The family of bubbly Katy Taylor-Hamilton were praying for a miracle this time last year as she desperately waited for a much-needed heart transplant.

Thankfully their dreams came true and a suitable donor was found and on Sunday the 21-year-old will celebrate the one year anniversary of her transplant.

Katy's overwhelmed mum, Emma-Jane Taylor, said its difficult to think back 12 months to the time when her extremely ill daughter was in hospital.

"I must admit, I got up on Christmas Eve and cried on and off all day thinking back to December 2016 as that was the day Katy was taken into intensive care," she said.

The St Bees family face an extremely emotional day on Sunday as they come together to mark the milestone day – while remembering Katy's donor at the same time.

"While we are celebrating having Katy here for the last year, it's coming up to the anniversary of the donor family not having their loved one," said Emma-Jane. "It's the flip side between their sorrow with our joy.

"I would like to think somewhere along the line that they will know their gift wasn't wasted."

In the days leading up to the anniversary, Katy has been decorating wooden hearts which she will hand out to people who have supported her along the journey.

She also hung a heart decoration on the Christmas tree in memory of her donor.

As Katy spent last Christmas in hospital, this year was extra-special.

"Katy's had a whale of a time and has been full of excitement," said Emma-Jane. "On Christmas morning she wasn't that bothered about the presents, she was more bothered about having us there and all being together at home."

And speaking about the amazing determination her daughter has shown since the major surgery last January, she said: "I'm incredibly proud of her. She's gone from strength-to-strength and is very positive about everything.

"I hoped that I would have Katy to celebrate this Christmas but I didn't know enough about transplants to realise I would fully get Katy back.

"I thought I'd maybe have somebody who was still poorly and needed lots of care and attention. But instead I've got the independent and strong Katy back, who wants to live her life to the fullest."

Looking ahead to the future, Katy has plenty of plans for 2018.

She wants to go to Lourdes with the pilgramage group HCPT 75, as a young helper and hopes to compete in the European Transplant Games in June at Italy as well as August's British games in Birmingham.

But most importantly, she's excited to get back to the Hensingham Day Centre to see all of her friends following the festive break.