Jerry thanks donor for gift of life

JERRY O’LEARY’S first thought on his last day in the hospital where he got his heart transplant was of the donor who gave him a new lease of life.

The Corkman spent a record 311 days tethered to an artificial heart machine beside his bed in Dublin’s Mater Hospital before a suitable donor organ was found last December.

Mr O’Leary, 50, from Kanturk, will spend the next two weeks convalescing in Mallow General Hospital in Co Cork before returning home.

“I am looking forward to doing a good bit of walking when I get home,” said Mr O’Leary, who had to learn how to walk again after being immobile for so long.

But one thing Mr O’Leary intends doing every day for the rest of his life is remembering the organ donor and the donor’s family who gave him a second chance at life.

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

When Mr O’Leary’s heart began to fail last year he was connected to an artificial heart machine before beginning his long wait for a suitable donor.

“It is almost unbelievable that I was on that machine for so long but it was my only hope of staying alive,” he said. The cumbersome machine was used to pump blood in and out through his body to maintain circulation and oxidation.

“There were times when I wondered if I would leave the hospital alive. I got depressed sometimes but the staff were so good to me. They kept me going. I can’t thank them enough.”

Mr O’Leary got his lifesaving heart transplant last December. The operation took more than eight hours and the team who performed the procedure were led by cardio-thoracic surgeon and director of the heart/lung transplant unit, Mr Freddie Wood. Mr Wood said: “He has a prognosis of 15 to 18 years of life ahead of him and a very active life.”

Mr O’Leary, who is single, said his family would be helping him get used to living independently but he did not think it would be long before he would be able to take care of himself again. The self-confessed GAA fanatic is also hoping to see the Cork hurling team bring the Liam MacCarthy Cup back to Leeside next September.

His favourite item of clothing is his Cork jersey signed by the Cork hurling team and he was proudly wearing it when he left the Mater yesterday.

Mr O’Leary was delighted when legendary hurler, Brian Corcoran, visited him in hospital last September. The occasion is also recorded in the sporting legend’s autobiography, Every Single Ball.

“It was great to see him (Mr O’Leary),” Mr Corcoran wrote. “We had no cup but it was great to bring a big smile to his face.”