'I have no doubt that if I didn't have the vaccine I would not be here today'

FLU LEFT CLAIRE NEEDING DOUBLE LUNG TRANSPLANT

- By NAOMI CORRIGAN

Claire now needs to be on oxygen permanently

A woman left needing a double lung transplant after catching the flu has sounded a stark warning as virus rates continue to soar this winter.

Claire Davies, from Middlesbrough, feels certain that she is only alive today because she had the flu vaccine. And she is urging others, particularly the vulnerable, to get their jabs.

It comes as figures show hospital admissions for flu have quadrupled when compared to the same period last year.

As reported, staff at The James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, and the University Hospital of North Tees, in Stockton, will be wearing masks in several wards to keep the "most vulnerable patients safe".

The charity Asthma + Lung UK is also urging people with lung conditions to take extra precautions.

Claire, 40, was clinically vulnerable when she caught the flu in 2022. She said: "I have no doubt in my mind that if I hadn't had the vaccine I wouldn't be here now. It literally saved my life."

As a child she was diagnosed with two lung conditions - bronchiolitis obliterans and severe cystic bronchiectasis. She used inhalers and nebulisers, and had physiotherapy twice a day, but still led a relatively normal life.