Irish comedian Jarlath Regan to donate his kidney to brother
Jarlath Regan is set to fly to the US next week to donate a kidney to his brother.
The comedian’s brother has battled with a kidney condition since his childhood, and in recent years has rapidly deteriorated.
Speaking on the Eoghan McDermott Show on RTE 2fm, “he's at a critical level so I guess we saw it coming along way off. His kidney function was down to 15 and normal is 85.
“I flew over to Rochester in Minnesota and I was as good a match as he could hope to find. Considering the number of pints I've drank over the course of my life, there is no known reason why my kidney function is well over 100.
“So he's going to be rocket-powered by the time he gets this”.
Massive thanks to @Eoghan2FM on @RTE2fm for having me on to talk about organ donation. #donation @IrishKidneyAs
— Jarlath Regan (@Jarlath) January 26, 2017
Jarlath explained to Eoghan that it was one of the easiest decisions he's ever had to make but he is worried about how his wife Tina is taking the stress.
During the consultation his doctor pointed out to him that it is usual the person closest to you can take on most of the stress as he was worried that he was being so “blasé” about it.
Doctor stressed to him that his is perfectly normal.
Chatting about the procedure, the father-of-one said that organ donation needs to be discussed more openly in Ireland as more and more people are dying in this country as a result of organ shortage.
Just one of the amazing kidney donation stories I've read in the past few months. Have the conversation with your family. #kidneydonation pic.twitter.com/2BzPenIYOG
— Jarlath Regan (@Jarlath) January 26, 2017
For more information on Jarlath’s experience, tune into his podcast ‘The Irishman Abroad”.
