A 14-year-old Glasgow teenager faces lung transplant that her family hope will change her life forever.
Danielle Wards was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension - where there's high pressure inside the arteries - when she was just three-years-old and has been travelling between Glasgow Queen Elizabeth and the Great Ormond Street Hospital, in London, for treatment.
But the treatment 'isn't making a difference', her dad James, from Drumchapel, says and she now needs a lung transplant that'll change her life for the better.
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The schoolgirl was born prematurely and was doing well until she started nursery. It was after then that she'd be sleeping constantly, raising red flags for her parents, James and Suzanne.
After multiple trips to her GP, she was referred to the cardiology department where it was confirmed she had pulmonary hypertension.
The condition makes it difficult for Danielle to walk long distances without losing breath quickly and feeling tired or dizzy.
It also affects her appetite and she struggles to eat.
Dad-of-four James, 38, told GlasgowLive: "When she was diagnosed, it was quite a weird feeling because we knew there was something wrong. They took us into a side room and told us.
"You feel like you’re in a trance and the doctors are talking to someone else. You’ve got all these questions in your head that you want to ask but they just won’t come out. It was very nerve wracking and scary.
"As parents we feel helpless and we don’t always get it right."
Danielle underwent surgery last January to have a line fitted in her heart which supports her. She is also on a number of drugs but it's not "making a difference" and she needs a lung transplant.
She has an appointment for a compatibility test at the end of April to start the process of finding a new lung which'll transform her life.
The Celtic FC fan has missed out on school and socialising with friends due to her condition. She's also Formula 1 mad and a huge Lewis Hamilton fan.
When she's not watching the football or Formula 1, she's listening to Lewis Capaldi.
James has started a GoFundMe page to help fulfil some of Danielle's wishes.
He said: "It was actually very difficult to gauge with her especially during her primary school years because she had selective mutism. She wouldn’t speak during school and to us an hour or two after school.
"She bottled everything up. She started to speak for the first time at the end of Primary 6.
"Over the past few years she has started to open up. She tries not to let it bother her and she likes to think how she could live her life in this moment which is a great way of doing it.
"There’s no time frame on the transplant and it is one of the biggest gifts she’ll receive. Unfortunately, someone else needs to lose their life for her to receive it and it’s overwhelming thinking back at it.
"It’s hard to put into words what it (lung transplant) would mean to us. We’ve got to overcome the fear that comes with going through such a big operation and all the risks that come with it.
"If it’s going to make her life better and she could socialise with her friends it would be great to see her be a young girl and enjoy her life."
Support the fundraising appeal here.
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