'It literally is the gift of new life': HSE urges people to 'have the conversation' about organ donation

Edel Cashman, from Carrigtwohill, Co Cork, received a liver transplant in recent years.

The HSE is urging people to “have the conversation” with loved ones about organ donation, as the pandemic has significantly decreased organ donation and transplantation rates.

Today marks European Day for Organ Donation and Transplantation, dedicated to promoting awareness of organ donation and honouring donors and their families.

Last year in Ireland, 190 organ transplants were carried out, which saw 123 people receive a kidney, 37 people a liver, 16 a lung, and nine patients received a heart transplant.

However, there are still currently 650 families in Ireland waiting for transplant surgery, and organ shortage is the limiting factor in saving the lives of patients with severe organ failure.

Nobody knows how life-changing the gift of an organ can be more than Edel Cashman from Carrigtwohill, Co Cork. Edel was on the transplant waiting list for 22 months, before she finally got a new liver in 2018. She says she has not taken a single day for granted since the life-changing operation.

“It’s kind of almost become a cliché, but it literally is the gift of new life," she said. 

I still appreciate it so much and don't take it for granted.”

Before she found out that she needed a transplant, Edel hadn’t taken much notice of organ donation. 

“You know yourself, most people just don't think about it,” she said.

Now she is an advocate for organ donation, and is urging people to let their next-of-kin know their wishes in case something does happen.

It doesn’t have to be a big serious conversation, just say: ‘If anything happened to me, I would like my organs donated’. Simple. One sentence, and your family knows,” she said.

Dr Catherine Motherway is an intensive care consultant in University Hospital Limerick, and the HSE clinical lead for organ donation. Dr Motherway said the pandemic has significantly decreased organ donation and transplantation rates.

“Our first job is to try to save someone’s life, but in the event that we can't, then we will offer their family the opportunity for organ donation," she said.

"Things like road traffic accidents are often the cause of death in cases where patients can donate their organs. We saw less of that during the pandemic, so we had less offers.

The pandemic has even more so decreased our transplantation rates, because giving people immunosuppression in the face of widespread viral transmission was not without its risks.”

Dr Motherway emphasised the importance of having a conversation with your next-of-kin.

“For many families, they just never had the conversation, so then they don't know what the person wanted," she said. 

"If they do know, I think it makes it easier. 

"I've met families and where they have talked about it, and for them they know that they are honouring the wish of the person who has died. 

The act of donation can truly help families in their loss, and is a most precious gift for our transplant patients. 

"Transplantation saves and changes lives.”