A TEENAGER from the North-East has been given her life back after becoming the first child in Britain to receive a new drug using a nebuliser powered by a car cigarette lighter.

Emma Evans, a 14-year-old from Hartlepool, was virtually housebound because she needed a direct feed of oxygen to fill her lungs.

The youngster suffers from a condition called pulmonary hypertension, that weakens the heart and lungs.

When she was diagnosed at the age of four, the only treatment available was a daily supply of oxygen. By the age of 12, Emma was confined to a wheelchair.

But six months ago, experts at Newcastle's Freeman Hospital introduced a new drug, Innoprost, which she can take using the system which plugs into the dashboard of the family car.

She needs to take the drug every two hours to prevent her arteries becoming blocked. Because it worked using mains power, Emma and her parents were effectively housebound.

Then, in June, doctors introduced a machine which could be powered from a cigarette lighter.

Her mother Lynn, 34, said: "We have just had to watch her get worse over the years.

"So when the new drug came along it was brilliant because it was doing Emma so much good - but at the same time horrendous because our life just stopped.

"We were at each other's throats and Emma felt awful about it. We tried to go shopping but it was awful because no one would let us use their electric plugs."

Then two months ago we got one that plugged into the car cigarette lighter. It was brilliant. We took a trip to Hamsterley Forest in County Durham and we laughed all weekend long."

Emma's consultant, Dr Paul Corris, said: "If the treatment works well we will be able to delay the need for a transplant until the last possible minute."