Irish Woman Waits Hoping for Record 6th Liver Transplant

A 26-year-old Irish woman who has had a record five liver transplants over the course of the past decade is now hoping for a sixth.

Lizzie Finnegan of Kilkenny, Ireland, who has spent the past 13 years fighting autoimmune hepatitis, is on the waiting list for another transplant at King's Hospital in London.

Finnegan first became ill when she was 14-years-old and is reported by doctors in the United Kingdom to be the only person in the world to have survived five liver transplants.

While doctors currently estimate she has three months to live unless a suitable donor is found, Finnegan remains optimistic.

"I plan to open my Christmas presents with my family this year as I have done all the other years," she said. "I know my chances of getting through are at long odds but while the doctors give me some hope -- however small -- I'll build on that. That's how I've pulled through the previous five operations."