'I am going to die because not enough people are donors': Tragedy of girl, 22, whose life hangs in the balance after 'unsuitable' liver and bone marrow transplants Kathryn Cartwright has been battling leukaemia since she was 16 After undergoing two bone marrow transplants, a liver replacement and chemotherapy Kathryn has just months to live The 22-year-old believes she would live for longer if more people were registered as donors Kathryn is campaigning for more people to register to 'stop this from happening from anyone else' Kathryn, 22, believes she would have longer to life if doctors had been able to find her more suitable liver and bone marrow transplants A 22-year-old who has been battling leukaemia for six years has said her ill health could have been prevented if more people were registered as donors. Kathryn Cartwright of Sutton Coldfield believes she would have longer to live if doctors had been able to find her a suitable bone marrow match when she was 16. Kathryn, who was forced to undergo a second transplant and liver replacement in later years, is now unsure if she will see her 23rd birthday in January. After being diagnosed with the disease, Kathryn's older sister stepped in to donate her own bone marrow, a move which was boosted by chemotherapy. But after several months the teenager's health continued to deteriorate. 'I found lumps in my face which turned out to be malignant tumours, and tests revealed that my bone marrow was full of cancer again,' she recalls. She required a second transplant from a donor in Germany, after which doctors told her she had a 20 per cent chance at life. Though she surpassed doctor's expectations, Kathryn discovered she had developed graft-versus-host-virus disease (GvHD) shortly after the second operation. 'This is when the donor cells recognise the recipient's cells as foreign and they attack', she explains. 'It can happen in any of the systems of the body, and I've had it almost everywhere. I had it in my skin and my digestive system, but it was treated with several weeks of IV steroids. After receiving a bone marrow transplant from her sister Christine in 2008 and undergoing chemotherapy, doctors were hopeful Kathryn would make a recovery Kathryn recalls how her skin turned yellow with jaundice as she was in desperate need of a new liver Then in the September I got it in my eyes. I lived in the dark for a month because it made me incredibly photophobic. It was eventually treated with eye drops made from stem cells from my own blood As a result, Kathryn was hospitalised on Halloween 2008 - and did not return home until June the following year. Kathryn has undergone rounds of chemotherapy as well as the transplants throughout her six-year battle It was during this time she received a liver transplant. But, as she was in such bad health, doctors selected an organ of a different blood type to try to keep her alive. Though the operation, which took place on December 21, was a success, experts didn't believe the teenager would be alive at Christmas. My donor was a different blood type to me - I was A-positive, but I received an O-negative liver because I was so poorly. While the haematology doctors were still monitoring me, they discovered an anomaly in one of my test results - the DNA in my bone marrow had changed. 'It wasn't me. Neither was it my sister, nor the German donor. What happened was that the stem cells from the liver had travelled to my bone marrow, kicked out the German and set up shop. 'I had effectively had a third accidental bone marrow transplant - I'm the only person in the world for all this to happen to. 'There's a scientific paper being written about me.' As more GvHD spread through her body, Kathryn's lung capacity reduced to just 50 to 60 per cent, and she was forced to start using a wheelchair. Kathryn stunned experts by reaching her 21st birthday last year after being told she only had a 20 per cent chance of survival 'This wasn't such a problem when my new liver was working fine. But in 2011 I got biliary stones. They're basically the same as gallstones.' Though this was temporarily resolved with the creation of a new bile duct, Kathryn's liver is now failing to drain properly, causing infection which is resistant to antibiotics. As such, her only hope of survival is a new liver transplant - a prospect which is becoming less likely as her respiratory function continues to falter. Last year Kathryn was told it would be too much of a risk to her health to perform a second liver transplant Kathryn recalls the moment doctors told her she wasn't eligible for a second transplant as the procedure would involve too much risk, describing the news as 'like being punched in the face'. 'It was decided that I couldn't have a transplant because they would probably not be able to get me off the ventilator post-surgery - and that's if I survived the operation at all.' Speaking of her family's reaction to the life-threatening news, she said: 'We know everything is not going to be all right, but for now we are just carrying on the best we can.' Though heartbroken, the 22-year-old says she is 'not surprised' by doctor's decisions as there merely aren't enough people willing to donate organs or bone marrow. I am going to die because not enough people are on the donor registers. One in three people die while on the waiting list for an organ, and it is so unnecessary. 'People die because they can't find suitable bone marrow donors, and that shouldn't happen when signing up and donating is so easy - no one has to die to donate bone marrow like they do with an organ. I have been to too many funerals that could have been prevented if more people were on the registers. As well as a trip to America and celebrating Christmas, Kathryn wishes to use her remaining time 'spreading the word about organ and bone marrow donation'. 'I have things I want to do, I don't want to go before I've done them. The 22-year-old has said she will spend her remaining time campaigning for bone marrow donation so others don't find themselves in her situation 'I want to try and stop this from happening to anyone else,' she said, adding: 'So many people "mean to do it," but never do - and it is so simple.' 'I want to get to Christmas and my birthday but I don't know what's going to happen. And God, I am so scared. Kathryn has been documenting her condition and campaign for bone marrow and organ donation awareness on her blog which has received 5,000 views in just six days.