AN incurable lung condition meant Maggie Cowman was unable to walk until a lung transplant completely changed her life. She speaks to health reporter Kate Liptrot.

AT 59 Maggie Cowman has represented England in a sporting competition - a remarkable achievement as until recently she struggled to walk eat or talk.

Maggie, a keen sportswoman when she was younger, had been diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) caused by a chemical deficiency and had to use an electric buggy to get around in and outside her home.

"If I walked up a flight of steps I had to stand still for 15 minutes to get my breath," Maggie said, "I couldn't hold a conversation without gasping for breath."

But a double lung transplant completely changed her life.

Maggie, who had been unwell for several years, was notified a possible match had been found in July 2010 and the morning after she travelled from her home in to the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, she was taken into a seven hour operation.

Her anxious husband John watched as she lay unconscious in intensive care for four days, aware the operation was highly risky and that one in four people do not survive the first year.

But Maggie rallied, and after a three month quarantine period at home she gradually began to build her strength up, learning to eat - which had previously been difficult - and to build up her muscles and strength to slowly walk the mile from her home into Knaresborough.

"It has been amazing," she said, "It has made such a difference. Now I can look after my 89-year-old mother better and my husband no longer has to do everything for me."

Even more impressively, the former England cricketer took up sports again, joining an indoor bowls club and then a croquet club, at which she discovered a previously unrealised talent.

“My consultant asked me after the operation if there was anything that I hoped to achieve now that I had a chance of better health," Maggie said, "One of my wishes was to represent England in sport again.

"I’ve been lucky enough that since my operation I have had the opportunity to do this.

“At the end of last year I was asked if I would like to represent England in the Women’s World Championships this year and without any hesitation I accepted the offer. I may, at my age, never get the opportunity again and I believe you have to take all the chances that come your way.”

Maggie, the chairperson of the British Lung Foundation (BLF) support group Breathe Easy Harrogate, has just returned from the championships in Cairo at which she won an award.

She said: "It was like a dream come true. When I was poorly I was just hoping to stay alive. To be able to do this is just amazing."

Bev Wears, service development manager in the north for the British Lung Foundation, said: “Maggie is an incredibly strong woman who does a lot for her local community, including volunteering on the North Regional Forum.

"It is a pleasure to work beside her to help support people with lung disease and to see her to return to her passion of sport is wonderful."