A RYEDALE couple who feared their daughter wouldn't reach 18 are encouraging organ donation after she made it to adulthood - thanks to a heart transplant.

Carol and Frank Swift, of Helmsley, threw a huge birthday party for Hannah on Saturday, with more than 70 guests, before sending her on a trip to Paris as a special present.

Hannah had the operation in the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle when she was nine after contracting a rare virus that damaged her heart.

She was dealt another potentially deadly blow at 14 when she contracted cancer of the lymph glands, caused by the anti-rejection drugs she was taking for her new heart.

Hannah was given just weeks to live, but underwent six months of chemotherapy and is now clear of the disease.

"She's marvellous," said her mum Carol. "She's full of life - a good advert for organ donation. We are lucky to have her."

Hannah, who has a 21-year-old sister Katie, is now running her own beauty business from the family's bed and breakfast premises in Church Street.

The girl who donated Hannah's heart was almost 13 when she was knocked down by a car while playing on a road.

"She had told her parents that she would want her organs to be donated, so her mother had no hesitation in making the decision," said Carol.

She wrote to the family and thanked them, and received a letter back. "That girl did a great thing that day, helping so many people. Hannah got a heart, and a little boy in Scotland got a kidney," she said.

To be a donor, you must register, carry a donor card and, above all, make sure you inform your next of kin.

"I have cards in the B and B but it's a message you have to keep coming back to. It's important that people know it's not a case of all or nothing - you can specify what you want to donate when you register," said Carol.

She added: "The best saying I've heard on the subject is: 'Don't send your organs to heaven because heaven knows we need them here.'"

For more information about registering as a donor, call (0845) 560 60400.

Updated: 10:22 Wednesday, March 16, 2005