Father gives son new life with kidney transplant

A FATHER who donated his right kidney to his son urged everybody to carry an organ donor card as it was revealed that more than 200 lives were extended and saved by transplants last year.

Six-year-old Owen Gregory’s life has changed from one of being fed through machines and little or no exercise, to one of packed lunches and running to school since the transplant at Temple Street Children’s Hospital four months ago.

For his father Brendan, there was little to think about when it came to offering one of his kidneys for Owen, who has often spent months at a time in hospital since his kidney problems were discovered at the age of two weeks.

“My biggest worry was just that the transplant might not be successful, there were no long deliberations,” said 38-year-old Brendan, who runs a haulage business with his wife Tracey from their home in Rathnew, Co Wicklow.

He spent almost a week recovering in Beaumont Hospital where surgeons removed his kidney, which was rushed straight to his son’s operating theatre and successfully transplanted.

Owen had lost the use of one kidney from an early age and was restricted to about a quarter use of his second kidney soon after, making him a candidate for transplant once he reached the required weight about 18 months ago.

“I think more people should support organ donation and carry a card with them, it’s not supported enough. Just seeing the change in someone like Owen’s life makes it all worthwhile,” said Brendan.

The Irish Kidney Association (IKA) has highlighted a fall in donor numbers ahead of European Day for Organ Donation and Transplantation on Saturday.

There were 127 kidney transplants from dead donors last year, representing 30.75 transplants per million of population, down 20% since 1990.

IKA chief executive Mark Murphy said Ireland has eight times more people on dialysis than 16 years ago.

More than 200 lives were extended and saved by transplants of hearts, livers, kidneys, pancreas and lungs last year.

The numbers of liver and heart transplants in Ireland rose last year but Mr Murphy warned that the overall drop in organ donors has obvious consequences for growing number of patients awaiting kidney transplants.

“The lack of resources dedicated to kidney transplantation has caused this Irish dilemma. A small trickle of funds has arrived to Beaumont Hospital to develop the living kidney transplant programme, but when are the HSE going to seriously develop this under-resourced and under-exploited, completely preferred, economically-viable choice of treatment for our kidney patients?”

* Organ donor cards are available from pharmacies, GP surgeries and citizen information offices. Or text the word ‘Donor’, your name and address to 53377 (cost 15c) or e-mail your request to [e-mail]