A MONMOUTH mum born with a rare liver disease has said she is living a full and busy life-just months after undergoing a liver transplant.

Tass Lewis, 35, of Buckholt, wants to give hope to other families affected by the condition and is working with the Children’s Liver Disease Foundation (CLDF) to share her experience with parents of newly-diagnosed children.

Mrs Lewis needed a liver transplant last year when her health deteriorated. A suitable donor became available in July and after making a full recovery, Mrs Lewis is working with the Children’s Liver Disease Foundation (CLDF) to share her experiences with other families

Mrs Lewis was born with bilary atresia, an inflammation of the bile ducts which means the liver cannot function properly. Early surgery proved successful and although her parents were told she may one day need a transplant, her liver condition was not something she gave much thought to-apart from her annual check-ups while she was growing up.

Last year the mum to Aiden, aged four, realised that her health was deteriorating.

“We were celebrating my mum’s 60th birthday in May when I felt very unwell and knew I had to get to hospital.”

“It became clear that my liver was the problem and I was quickly transferred to Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital. After various tests, we were told that a transplant was the only option and I was put on the waiting list. I desperately wanted to be at home for Aiden’s fourth birthday but I was too ill – we had to celebrate in hospital.”

A suitable donor liver was found and her transplant took place in July. Since then she has gone from strength to strength.

She said: “I am able to look after Aiden again, do some fundraising for CLDF, help my husband with the lambing and have even started a new job.”

Mrs Lewis recently shared her experience at a family event organised by CLDF

She said: “It was lovely to meet other people in my situation and for parents of newly diagnosed children to see that there really is hope.”

“It was also interesting to see how much more information is available to parents about childhood liver disease now. I think my mum would really have benefitted from that when I was young.”

CLDF chief executive, Alison Taylor, added: “Tass is a truly inspirational lady. It really did give our other families hope to see that, despite her liver condition, she leads a full and busy life and is mum to a gorgeous little boy.”

“We are delighted she has recovered so well from her transplant and look forward to seeing her again at family events in the future.”

For more information visit childliverdisease.org