Matching donor for ill Irishman found in the US
Extraordinarily, the donor was not one of John O’Neill’s dozen or so cousins but an unknown American who was considered by doctors to be an even closer match.
Mr O’Neill, who lives in Australia, had the transplant five days ago following more than a year of chronic illness caused by leukaemia.
“Hopefully it’s just a few rough weeks ahead waiting for the graft to take,” he said yesterday.
Mr O’Neill is hoping to be fully recovered within 100 days — the day before the cray fishing season starts.
“I intend to be out in my boat and looking for crayfish. That is my goal,” the 48-year-old said.
“I’d like to thank all my family and friends for their wonderful support.”
He had five sessions of chemotherapy in the past year and suffered two relapses. His sister, Andrea, said that on several occasions she feared the worst. She contacted a number of relatives who lived in the Rosscarbery and Skibbereen areas and when they heard of Mr O’Neill’s plight they all volunteered to undertake compatibility tests.
His cousin, Fachtna McCarthy, said: “We all went for tests, but unfortunately none of us matched. Now we have discovered that the matching donor in the US is an entire stranger.”
The donor’s medical details were already registered on an international database and Australian doctors discovered the match.
“It will be between 10 and 28 days before we know if the transplant has taken,” said Andrea.
