Kirstie Tancock, 24, and Katie Gammon, 15, from Devon, both suffer from cystic fibrosis. Katie was so ill she'd been transferred to a hospice. But remarkably, on the same day in August this year, both girls were told that donors had been found. The pair are fit and healthy. Kirstie said: 'I couldn’t believe how lucky I had been to find another donor match but for Katie to get her wish too and on the same day - it was the best day of our lives.'

Ella Murphy, from Yeovil, suffers from a rare neurological disease called Complex regional Pain Disorder, which can cause a burning sensation when she is touched.The pain can be triggered by stress or brought on by a minor injury such as a bruise, before traveling through the body. Her mother Charlotte says the condition is especially horrible as she instinctively wants to give Ella a cuddle to make her feel better - but she is unable to hug her when she has pain in her upper body. 'I just want to take her pain away but even a hug can make it feel worse for her,' she said.

When Annette Lewn's children were young, she longed to join in the chats with other mothers at toddler group coffee mornings, but always felt like an outsider. 'I desperately wanted to be part of the group, but I never seemed to say the right thing and I'd get funny looks from people,' says Annette, 42, a school cleaner who lives in Chippenham, Wiltshire, with her son Ryan, 15, and daughter Rachel, 14. 'I just don't pick up on social niceties at all,' she adds. Annette has often been criticised for being rude or blunt, although she never intends to be, and the criticism upsets her greatly.

Terminally ill three- year-old Isabella Coomber, from Charlton, South London, has been battling a rare brain tumour since she was one. Chemotherapy treatment left her so sick that her mother pleaded with doctors to end it so Isabella would be well enough to have fun at Christmas. She said: 'Cancer has ruined every Christmas she has been old enough to know about so far, but not this one. This year she will have fun like other children.' Her mother is now fundraising for her to go to Disneyland Paris.

WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT: Xiao Wei, from China's Hunan province, had his right hand severed in an accident at work. Doctors here were hopeful they could re-attach it, but not right away. So, in order to stop the severed hand from dying, they attached it to Xiao's ankle. One of them explained: 'His injury was severe. Besides ripping injuries, his arm was also flattened. We had to clear and treat his injuries before taking on the hand reattachment surgery.' Nearly a month later, his hand has now been attached.

Anna Mitchell, 30, from Mansfield, suffered three ectopic pregnancies and feared never becoming a mother but finally gave birth to triplets Summer, Jacob and Joseph in July. She conceived successfully via IVF using money left to her by her mother Nicola, (right) who died of liver cancer. Anna said she and husband Nick are planning the best Christmas ever, thanks to her mother's 'amazing gift'.

Only 66 of the 120-odd five-star luxury hotels nationwide claim to be suitable for the disabled with only 12 are fully and permanently accessible, writes SOPHIE MORGAN, paralysed from the chest down after a car crash in 2003. Even so, some have only one or two disabled rooms, and appallingly, 31 hotels charge more for the privilege of not being able to walk.

Like Alessandra Pacchiere, who was forced to give birth by caesarean, I suffer a bipolar-type mental illness, writes KERRY HUDSON. And I am pregnant. Like her, I too made the decision to come off medication, to prevent any harm to my unborn child. And knowing that there were doctors around to make life-saving decisions when she was unable to do so herself, reassures me.