Terminally ill 22-year-old rejects organ donations to complete her bucket list

Terminally ill 22-year-old, Channan Petrides, has made the difficult decision to turn down the opportunity for a new heart and lungs so that she could pursue the items on her bucket list.

[picture 1]

Petrides, who has cystic fibrosis, has been on the transplant list since last September, the Metro reports. But after learning about the hidden risks that the operation would pose, she decided to remove herself.

“I know I’ve taken a massive risk but I want to enjoy the time I have left, rather than stick waiting for a call that may never come,” Petrides told the Metro.

“Nobody could say for sure that the transplant would work, and I wouldn’t have been able to do anything on my bucket list because of the risk of infection.”

The disease is brought on by a gene that controls the salt and water movement between cells, and as a result, the lungs become clogged with mucus, making it difficult to breathe.

Petrides said it “feels like having a plastic back over your head and [like you’re] breathing through a straw.”

“If it brought me another twenty years, of course I’d do it,” Petrides said, talking about the transplant. “But doctors told me there was a chance I’d die on the operating table or my new organs would fail after just six months.”

Her bucket list includes meeting Ed Sheeran, going on a helicopter ride, going to Disney Land in Paris and feeding a lion.

But Petrides’ ultimate goal is to be able to walk the red carpet at the BRIT Awards.

[picture 2]

“People struggle to believe how ill I am because I don’t look it,” she told the Mirror. “But the truth is that I do only have a certain amount of time left.”

But despite having a few skeptics, she’s mostly had an overwhelming amount of support.

“I’ve had messages of support from everywhere from Africa to Australia,” she said. “The outpouring of support gets me through the day.”