All we want for Christmas: Three men waiting on urgent transplants

We talk to three men awaiting a transplant — a gift that could transform their lives. They are among the 660 people in Ireland on the waiting list

Seamus Patton at the Mater Hospital, Dublin.

Across the country, people will be hoping that their Christmas wishes will come true. That might mean a piece of jewellery, a tech device, or the latest toy. Most will be looking forward to something special on Christmas Day.

But for the 660 people on the organ transplant waiting list in Ireland, the gift they hope for most this Christmas is restored health.

A life on hold

Tadhg Fitzgibbon, Bandon, is on a waiting list for an organ donation. Picture: Dan Linehan

Tadhg Fitzgibbon, from Bandon, has been on the waiting list for a new kidney for four years.

Diagnosed with hereditary polycystic kidney disease, his quality of life is compromised, and he waits ‘in a holding pattern’ until a transplant can help him to live fully again.

“My mother was on dialysis when I was growing up and I used to put her on the machine when I came home from school, and then, when my dad came home from work, he would take over,” he says.

Patients with polycystic kidney disease have a higher risk of aneurysm, and Fitzgibbon's mother had one in 1981, which proved fatal.

“My brother got diagnosed with the same condition in the late 1990s, and he was on dialysis for a few years, but he got a transplant 14 years ago and has been doing fine since,” he says.

“I was diagnosed in 1995, and although I wasn’t surprised to have the same condition, I was disappointed to say the least. But it remained dormant for a while, and I was being monitored every year to make sure everything was OK, but then all that changed about five or six years ago.”

In 2020, Fitzgibbon’s kidney function “went south very fast” and he began to get very ill.

“I lost about 25kg in weight and was in very bad shape,” says the 60-year-old. “I was started on dialysis in 2022, and since then I’ve been going to CUH three evenings a week for several hours at a time. My diet is also very strict, and there are so many things I can’t eat, plus I can only drink tea, water, and 7UP, so it’s very strict.

“I haven’t left the country for five or six years, firstly because I was too unwell. Then, since I started on dialysis, I can’t even travel too far, because it would mean trying to get the treatment in another hospital, and that isn’t easy, as I have to do it for three days each week.”

Fitzgibbon was put on the transplant waiting list four years ago. 

“The only way to describe my life at the moment is that it’s on hold. I’m living in Groundhog Day, as every day I know exactly where I’m going to be, what I’m going to be eating, and what I’m going to be doing: My life consists of eating, sleeping, and dialysis. I still work [from home as an accountant], but other than that, I’m waiting. I can’t stay on dialysis forever, as it begins to take its toll on other parts of the body.”

Fitzgibbon is married to Marian and has two grown-up children. Because some family members also have the same hereditary condition, he is waiting on a third-party donor. “I would encourage people to have the discussion with their loved ones about organ donation, as it may help save or transform more than one life in the future.”

Rapid deterioration

Francis Hogan (centre) with daughter Sierra, wife Andina and sons Dayle, Leon and Byron Hogan at home in Templemore, County Tipperary. Picture: Brendan Gleeson

Francis Hogan, from Templemore in Tipperary, also has hereditary polycystic kidney disease. His father had the condition but died in 2001 on the day that he underwent a kidney transplant.

But, since being diagnosed 10 years ago, the father-of-five has lived a healthy and active life and has been monitored regularly.

However, four years ago, his “kidney function dropped to 25%”, and he started dialysis.

He is now on the transplant waiting list.

“Despite having the same condition as my father, I was very fit, cycling the length and breadth of the country and able to do anything I wanted,” says the 48-year-old.

“I had no symptoms whatsoever, but then I started to decline and was exhausted all the time. They discovered my kidney function was at 25%, in comparison to about 90% in most other people. It began to go down even further, and I started dialysis, which I do twice a week in Cork, staying over at the Munster Kidney Support Centre.

“It’s hard to describe how I’ve deteriorated over the last three years. Sometimes, when I look in the mirror, I can see an old man, who looks empty inside. I’m not sure what to expect from a transplant, but I’ve been told that everything in my life will improve, not only my health overall, but also my senses and everything.

“I don’t like to say that I’m waiting for it to happen. I’m a bit more optimistic and prefer to say that every day that passes is another day closer to my transplant.”

Never give up

Seamus Patton, a Garda detective from Letterkenny, Co Donegal, has been waiting for a heart transplant since March of this year.

“In 2007, I became tired and out of puff and, after seeing my doctor, it was decided that I needed mitral valve surgery,” Patton says.

“I underwent this operation, but afterwards I still had some palpitations and, in January 2011, I was fitted with a dual ICD (implantable cardioverter defibrillator) and pacemaker.”

Patton says he got on with his life, “living well and playing golf.”

However, in October 2022, he collapsed while playing golf. He was taken to Letterkenny Hospital by ambulance. “My heart rhythms were completely out of sync — through care and medication, they took me back to a stable condition,” he says.

Doctors at the hospital confirmed that his ICD has gone “into shock mode”.

He had a further incident in April 2024, when he “passed out” while playing golf.

The father of five, who is married to Katrina, had another device fitted and went to London for a procedure on the left side of the heart.

But by January of this year, he was still feeling tired and getting palpitations, so, after being assessed by specialists at the Mater Hospital, two months later, he was put on the transplant waiting list.

“Since then, I have got by, but have had bad nausea, vomiting, and fluid build-up, and, on September 12, I was admitted to the Mater due to an issue with my kidney bloods,” he says. “ I’m now getting medication infusions morning and evening for up to four hours.”

While it’s “difficult” being on the waiting list, he says, “you never give up on the hope of life”.

I want to plead to families: Have a conversation, think carefully and thoughtfully, and give serious consideration to organ donation, which can benefit up to five persons and greatly change the recipients’ lives.

Patton has yet to get a call from the transplant team at the Mater. “If and when it does happen, I will sadly never be able to thank the donor personally for the wonderful gift of life.”

Donation decision

Colin White, national advocacy manager with the Irish Kidney Association, urges people to ‘have the conversation’ with loved ones about their will to be an organ donor should they die.

“The legislation rightly protects people’s right to remove themselves from consideration as possible organ donors,” he says. “It retains the role of the family in the final consent decision as to whether organ donation goes ahead or not.

“This is why the Irish Kidney Association’s ongoing campaign about the importance of empowering your loved ones to act on your behalf by having the ‘organ donation conversation’ remains very relevant.

The association’s organ donor card (including the digital version) is a useful icebreaker.”

• For more information, visit ika.ie and mater.ie. 
• People can let their loved ones know their wishes and request an organ donor card from www.ika.ie/donorcard
  
• According to the NKTS (National Kidney Transplant Service) report, approximately 560 people are active on the waiting list for a kidney transplant and approximately 100 are active on the list for other organs.