Christmas wish: man gets gift of heart transplant

AFTER being tethered to an artificial heart machine for a record 311 days 50-year-old Jerry O’Leary got his Christmas wish — a heart transplant.

It was the longest time that any Irish patient has spent on the artificial heart machine and it paid off for the Corkman.

Mr O’Leary was yesterday reported to be in a stable condition in the Mater Hospital in Dublin after undergoing a heart transplant procedure that took more than eight hours to complete.

The operation took place on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning and the transplant team was led by cardio-thoracic surgeon and director of the heart/lung transplant unit at the Mater, Mr Freddie Wood.

Mr O’Leary’s family was at his bedside.

He was likely to remain in ICU for several days.

The Corkman underwent major surgery on February 17 when Mr Wood fitted him with an artificial heart while they awaited a suitable donor.

The former welder from Kanturk, who had been put on the machine when his own heart began to deteriorate, never lost hope that he would get a new lease on life. Keeping his spirits up were his family, hospital staff and the cards and letters he received from people around the country.

And just days before his operation, Mr O’Leary spoke about how he was holding out hope that he would get a new heart for Christmas.

“My surgeon, Mr Wood, has told me he is praying that I will get my Christmas wish,” he said.

Mr O’Leary suffered a heart attack in 1995 while watching Cork playing Dublin in Croke Park. Three years later a second heart attack put an end to his working life.

Last year he became quite ill, was constantly out of breath and found it difficult to walk. He was told he needed a heart transplant.

In February last Mr Wood attached Mr O’Leary to an external artificial heart machine. The waist-high machine was used to pump blood in and out through his body to maintain circulation and oxidation.

RTÉ is now making a documentary about the remarkable Corkman.

Mr O’Leary, a self-confessed GAA fanatic, said he also had a dream to attend the next All-Ireland hurling final and to see Cork bring the Liam MacCarthy Cup back to Leeside.

Mr O’Leary would spend the next couple of weeks convalescing at the Mater.

A spokesperson for the hospital pointed out that the operation would not have been possible without the generosity of the organ donor and their family.