Sumter, SC (WLTX) - A 20 year old Sumter woman is waiting for a call that will help her breathe normally.
"I've kind of always had the mindset that I can still be normal," said Heather McCoy.
20 year-old McCoy was born with Cystic Fibrosis, but you couldn't tell by her joyful spirit.
"Cystic Fibrosis is just my disease it doesn't have me, I can overcome it," said McCoy.
Within the last 10 years her illness has gotten worse. Now she needs a double lung transplant.
"I have always been a strong Christian so I truly believe why I am alive is because of my faith."
McCoy says she isn't upset that she was born with a disease...or that she hasn't been accepted on the transplant list yet.
"I just remember Jesus took the cross for me, this illness is nothing. I can overcome it."
As she waits to hear back from Duke University Hospita,l she knows for sure what she'll do when she receives her new lungs.
"The first thing I want to do is run. I just want to be able to run and not cough and not feel like I am going to pass out. I just want to be able to run and run free."
A biology student at USC Sumter, her current condition has inspired her future dream to become a pediatric pulmonologist.
"I want to be able to use my own experience and my science brain to be able to help people."
McCoy says every day she waits her faith in God gets stronger that her new lungs will come.
"He is not going to leave me just keep fighting, he has a plan for me, there is something brighter out there that he wants me to do because that's why I am still here."