What a Difference a Day Makes: Ger Harkins on the day her son suffered renal failure

Cork mum-of-two Ger Harkins tells Helen O’Callaghan about her utter shock when her fit, sporty 15-year-old suddenly suffered renal failure – and about trying to stay positive in a radically-changed life.

Ger and Kieran Harkins pictured at their home near Mallow. Picture: Chani Anderson

My 15-year-old son, Kieran, came home from school on March 14. He said his legs were killing him, he’d barely been able to get on the school bus.

I’d had him at the doctor three weeks in a row, a day each week. They were treating him for a cough, but I felt there was something more wrong – he was falling asleep on the bus and at school. They thought it was a reaction to antibiotics.