A hard lessonto learn for inspirational transplant girl

a young girl given a wonderful chance at life with a heart valve and kidney transplant grabs the opportunity with both hands and goes on to represent her country at the Transplant Games.

It’s a story that lifts the heart, especially knowing that 19-year-old Emily Potter has made the games not once, but twice, due to her brilliant badminton skills and determination to succeed despite her on-going health issues.

She’s an inspiration.

But the pride she should have felt since returning from the games in Malaga where she placed well in both individual and doubles has no doubt turned to shame having lost her driving licence after admitting drink-driving.

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Following an evening celebrating her achievements in Spain she went home, thought she’d slept the booze off, but chose to get in her car just a few hours later, and was found over the limit driving without her lights on in the early hours of the morning.

We can only hope that it was a moment of madness.

It is a sad tinge to an otherwise thrilling summer for the young woman who has so much to offer but will now struggle to get to her hospital appointments in Oxford because of the 12-month driving ban.

We all have that fleeting moment following a drink when we think, ‘I reckon I’m still okay to drive’.

But most of us quickly check ourselves and call a cab.

Emily is still very young and has achieved so much, but what a black mark this is against her name.

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Had she not been pulled over by the police it does not bear thinking about what could have happened.

And it remains a lesson to all of us that it is very easy to be over the limit, even if several hours have elapsed since the last drink, or we have been asleep in the interim.

Driving is a privilege, not a right, and it is just too dangerous to mix alcohol with getting behind the wheel. That message must not be forgotten.

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