London, Aug 16 : Barack Obama''s stepmother Kezia has said that she owes her life to U. K’s National Health Service (NHS).

Her comments come after Republicans branded the NHS "evil" and "Orwellian" amid a major row over US President’s plans for US healthcare reform.

The 66-year-old woman apparently suffered chronic kidney failure seven years ago while on a summer visit to Britain.

"It''s very simple: I owe my life to the NHS,” the Telegraph quoted her as telling the News of the World.

She said: "I suffered severe kidney failure and pancreatic problems so there was a very real chance I might not have made it."

The President’s step mom thinks she was really lucky, as she could not have afforded healthcare if she was in America.

She said: "I was very down at the time but luckily I was here in Britain, in what was then a foreign country to me, where the doctors, nurses and surgeons cared for me like I was their own child."

She is also grateful that she could witness Obama become the first black President of the United States.

She expressed: "If it wasn''t for the NHS I wouldn''t have been alive to see our family''s greatest moment - when Barack became President and was sworn into the White House."

Also, five years back, Kezia turned to NHS for two hip replacement operations, which she couldn’t afford in America.

She said: "If I''d been asked to pay for my new hips, well, I wouldn''t have been able to afford them. I would have without a doubt ended up confined to a wheelchair." (ANI)