A TEENAGER born with only one kidney and a rare genetic condition which means she has the body of a child is hoping to undergo revolutionary treatment later this year.

And plucky Sarah Coupe, 19, will tell the story of her struggles on national TV this morning.

Sarah, of Spring Meadows, Clayton-le-Moors, suffers from a condition known as the McKusick-Kaufman syndrome but she hopes the pioneering procedure, performed only once before in Great Britain, will transform her life.

She said: "I take a cocktail of medicines, can only eat certain food and am connected to a dialysis machine for two- and-a-half hours every Monday, Wednes-day and Friday.

"Some people think it’s just the really old who need a new kidney but I’d like to show them it affects young people too."

She has already had one failed transplant but she and her parents Karen and Michael hope the new procedure, called resensitisation, will give her much more freedom.

She said: "Basically it involves removing harmful antibodies from the bloodstream so that I don’t need dialysis and another transplant attempt could possibly take place."

Sarah’s condition has also affected the development of her hands, feet, heart and reproductive system.

She is only the size of a 10-year-old and surgeons are in the process of adapting the treatment for someone of her tiny stature.

Last year she suffered an infection after undergoing a session of dialysis. This left her in significant pain and it was while she was recovering that she decided to make a film about her life.

She explained: "Channel 4 was asking people for film ideas and I was tired of hearing people complaining about their lives. I must have been in a bad mood because I thought I would show them just what it is like for me."

The television network loved her idea and Sarah was asked to write and produce the documentary.

She travelled to London to learn how to use the camera and edited the six-minute film and completed voiceovers from her home.

Sarah said: "The voiceovers were the hardest part of it. I kept forgetting my lines."

It was the first film she has ever made and Sarah, a media studies student at Accrington and Rossendale College, can hardly believe it will be shown on national television.

Mum Karen said: "We are thrilled for her. Despite all her problems she is always laughing and she is very excited about the film. We don’t have all the details of the resensitisation finalised but we are hopeful it can all happen in September."

Life on Dialysis is one of three films that will be shown on Channel 4 today (Friday) at 9.55am.