A FARMER recovering from a life-saving lung transplant operation has celebrated his first Christmas in good health for years.

George Hayton, 48, of Brow Top Farm, Kentmere, got to play in the snow with daughters Alice and Anna over the festive period.

And now he is looking forward to a healthy 2011 after suffering from pulmonary fibrosis – commonly known as 'farmer's lung' – since the age of 16.

It was in 2004 that Mr Hayton’s condition worsened so severely he had to carry cylinders of oxygen on his back to help him breathe.

After 16 months on the transplant waiting list he received a new lung in November 2008 – but this is the first year he feels he has regained his strength.

“Christmas is a very special time for us and this was the first time since the transplant I've felt really well health-wise,” said Mr Hayton.

“Anna was still a tiny baby last Christmas but this year we’ve been able to play properly outside without me getting out of breath or carrying oxygen on my back – doing the things I missed out on when I was poorly.”

Farmer’s lung is a chronic condition triggered by breathing in dust from hay. Mr Hayton's mother died of the condition, aged 42.

“I hadn't made hay for years and years but there was something in my blood and in my mum's blood which meant the condition took a hold. There wasn't the treatment to save my mum but I've been given a second chance,” he said.

Doctors at Manchester's Wythenshawe Hospital put him on the priority transplant list in summer, 2008, but wife Sarah said the family had ‘dark times’ waiting for a call.

“George never pitied himself but there were times when I could see in his face he had given up,” she said. “He was a young man but he got tired just holding Anna and could only walk up three steps at a time,” she said.

Doctors found a perfect match and Mr Hayton underwent a seven hour operation to replace his right lung.

Now the Haytons hope their story will encourage more people to take time over the festive period to sign up to The Westmorland Gazette's Gift of Life campaign to tackle the shortage of organ donors in the region.

Only 19.5 per cent of the local population is on the organ donor register – ten per cent below the national average.

But since the Gazette’s campaign launched in May, 2,948 people in the area have joined the register – a monthy increase in uptake of 63 per cent.

“We're right behind The Gazette's Gift of Life campaign and we'd ask people to take a minute to sign up online.

"Organ donation has changed our family's life, we’ve seen first hand the amazing things it can do,” said Mrs Hayton.

Pam Prescott from NHS Blood and Transplant said: "We'd like to thank all those who have signed up to the Organ Donor Register as part of The Westmorland Gazette campaign.

"It really does save lives and many people will have been able to spend this Christmas at home with families after receiving a life saving organ."