A Canadian woman's life has been saved in an unprecedented operation which saw doctors removing her lungs for six days while she waited for a transplant.

Melissa Benoit, 32, who was born with cystic fibrosis, had a severe bacterial lung infection and was dying when she was admitted to Toronto General Hospital.

Both of her lungs were taken out and a small portable, artificial lung was connected to her heart.

A team of 13 operating staff, including three thoracic surgeons, took part in the efforts to remove Mrs Benoit's organs in a procedure which took nine hours.

The risks included bleeding into an empty chest cavity, whether her blood pressure and oxygen levels could be supported afterwards, and whether she would survive the operation.

After her lungs were removed Mrs Benoit's condition stabilised and a pair of donor lungs became available six days later, at which point she received the transplant.

Mrs Benoit, a mother-of-one, said: "Having this transplant saved my life. If I didn't have it I would have died," she said.

"I wouldn't be here to see my daughter grow up, I wouldn't be here to grow old with my husband. These are things that I want so badly in life and I wouldn't have made it."