Kim Mortimer was a happy and successful woman – a talented and hard working Chartered Quantity Surveyor, she
was also a wonderful mother with two children: Joshua (Josh) born in October 2003 and Olivia (Livvi) born in August 2005. This all changed when she suffered multiple pneumothoraxes’ in 2005.

In 2006 Kim’s doctors told her that she had Lymphangioleiomyomatosis… LAM (pronounced lim-FAN-jee-o-LYE-o-MY-o-ma-TOE-sis - which we never managed to say properly). “LAM” worked - nobody’s heard of it anyway. Even now it has no cure.

Kim unfortunately progressed to respiratory failure in less than two years from diagnosis and became oxygen dependant 24/7, so the concentrators and oxygen bottles moved in.

She became very frightened, but was never bitter and continued to laugh. She loved comedy. She loved fun, She loved laughing. She was always wonderful company and very caring, she was an inspirationally brave person. She was unfailingly cheerful with whom ever she met, and often shrug off whatever was going on with health.

Life became different.

Kim made it on to the lung transplant list in 2007, the bag was packed, we waited… and on 30^th December 2009, we got the call. Kim at a little over 40kg, received a single lung transplant.

Life became different again.

Kim fought her way back to life. Marching up and down the garden, up and down, up and down, up and down the road to get her strength and mobility back, a routine set for life. Tablet
cocktails morning and night, hands washed clean… Kim never relaxed the discipline, which an immunosuppressed person needs to survive.

She bravely challenged every day, she never complained, but she was in pain every day she was here. Years passed, she started driving again and looking to the future. She lived with
dignity and optimism.

Kim gave Josh and Livvi the best possible start in life.

Life was always fragile, but Kim hid it well. Nearly 7 years post transplant she went into hospital… mid July 2016 and in early August 2016, her brave battle with life concluded. She
passed away on the 6^th August, peacefully and with a smile.

Life became different once more.

Kim was always fun to be with and made many friends; friends through life’s journey, through work, and socially, the children’s friends’ parents and through all of them and our families, love and support has come at this most challenging of times. Kim was happy, she found some real fellowship through the children and great companionship all round.  She loved life.

Kim had fantastic family and friends.

I have lost my best friend and a wonderful wife.

Our children have lost a wonderful mother.

We have lost a friend.

We will remember.

Kim has left us mid story, which she was very sad about.

I have promised her to see it to the end now.

We loved each other.

Life is different now.

We will remember.

Life is different now.