FITNESS expert Sean Slater simply shrugs away "life's little complications".

At 21 he was struck down with cancer. And battled his way back to peak fitness. Two months ago, now aged 26, he was given just 48 hours to live. Complete liver failure led to an emergency transplant operation.

But the current U65k British Karate Association national champion remains unperturbed by these life-threatening setbacks.

And, as he recuperates at home in Spinnerette Close, Leigh, he admits he can't wait to get back to karate - much to the disbelief of wife Samantha.

Because Sean was so ill when his liver failed and his life hung in the balance, the horrors of the experience could not be shared.

To add to Samantha's turmoil, the couple had just celebrated the birth of their first child, Holly, now aged seven months.

As Sean battled for his life, Samantha knew she could be left a widow with Holly growing up without knowing her father.

But Sean is a fighter. It was, indeed, darkest before the dawn.

Towards the end of March he had set up twice-weekly karate classes at All Saints Church in Kenwood Avenue, Leigh.

At the same time he began to feel a little "offside".

Initially, he thought he had food poisoning. But, as the situation deteriorated, and his skin and the whites of his eyes turned yellow, Samantha became increasingly concerned.

Hepatitis was first suspected, then ruled out by a blood test; then it was thought his symptoms were a sign of Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph nodes which had hit him five years earlier. Fortunately, Samantha - a staff nurse at Wigan Infirmary - quickly recognised that, whatever her husband was suffering from, it was deadly serious.

And she realised time was running out.

It was then Sean's liver failed, filling his body with deadly toxins.

Sean, a diesel fitter with a local bus company, was transferred to Birmingham Hospital, which specialises in liver transplants.

He was unconscious throughout the journey.

Arriving at the hospital, a terrified Samantha was gently told that Sean, with 48 hours to live, desperately needed a transplant. But a donor liver could take hours - or weeks - to arrive.

"Time could have run out for him," said Samantha.

"It was really frightening and it was completely out of our control."

Fortunately, just over an hour after arriving at the hospital, Samantha was informed a suitable liver had been donated.

But then she received another body blow.

She was told that if there was any cancer present, it would be pointless going ahead with the transplant.

The cancer would simply identify the organ as a foreign body and attack it.

Samantha breathlessly waited for word from the surgeons. Her relief when she was told the operation could go ahead was palpable.

The transplant operation took seven hours. But it was a much longer wait for Samantha.

For a week Sean lay unconscious in intensive care. His wife was told any signs Sean's body was rejecting the donated organ would begin to show on the sixth day.

It was a long and traumatic wait for the young mum. But, luckily, Sean came through the operation with flying colours.

A week after the operation he was transferred to the high dependency unit, where his recovery amazed staff. Four days later he was discharged.

All of which was a great shock to Sean. During his last lucid moments he had no idea his liver had failed; waking up all that time later to learn he had undergone a dangerous transplant operation could leave a lesser mortal in shock.

Incredibly, Sean took it all in his stride.

For the first six weeks following the transplant he had to return to Birmingham once a week for tests. Then it is once a fortnight, then once a month.

Sean will have to take up to six months off work. But already he is becoming restless.

"Someone's dealt some dodgy cards my way," said Sean.

Doctors apparently have no idea why his liver packed in. But, according to Sean, surgeons have saved a bit of tissue on which to conduct research.

Samantha says she would like to know why it happened. "It could be something environmental to which Sean has been exposed," she said.

"Until we know what it is he could be putting himself in danger on a daily basis."

Lowton High was the scene earlier this month for a fundraiser to buy portable TVs for the transplant ward at Birmingham; there British Karate Association's national coach Fred Harrison took a training session.

Anyone interested in joining Sean's karate classes should call 01942-602935.

Sean is pictured with his wife Samantha and daughter Holly.

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