Woman was kept alive with no lungs for six days while awaiting a transplant

A woman was kept alive with no lungs for six days while she waited for a transplant in April last year.

It is thought to be the first operation of its kind in the world and she was kept alive with a small, artificial lung.

Melissa Benoit, who lives in Canada, had developed life-threatening complications as a result of her cystic fibrosis.

She said: “In my mid-20s I started developing lung infections, and I acquired influenza with this bout which put me in respiratory distress.”