Double transplant survivor Dermot Fenton dies 17 years after operation

The Cork man who hit the headlines 17 years ago after being rushed to England for a heart and lung transplant, with his old heart then being implanted into a woman there, has died.

Dermot Fenton was a 24- year-old cystic fibrosis sufferer when, after waiting for more than a year for a double transplant, he was told in November 1998 an organ had become available — provided he could travel from Cork to Harefield Hospital, Middlesex, Britain, within three hours.

The Government jet was enlisted and the Glenville native made it to the hospital on time. As well as receiving the life-saving transplant, he was able to donate his heart to 48 year-old British mother Janet Netherton. In September 2005, as a result of complications caused by anti-infection medications, Dermot was told he needed a new kidney — which miraculously became available within five weeks.