One Cork family, three kidney transplants, as 'life-changing' operation hailed
Joe Cott, Margaret Fitzgerald, and Michael Fitzgerald received transplants. Picture: John Allen
A Cork family plagued with a hereditary kidney condition has been counting its blessings after three members received transplants.
For the Fitzgeralds and the Cotts, 2023 began on a sad note when Joseph Cott, of Buttevant, passed away at the age of 77 following a short illness.
His grieving family were comforted by the fact that a kidney donation he had received more than 30 years previously had allowed him to live a full and healthy life, watching his children and grandchildren grow up.
Joseph had polycystic kidney disease (PKD), a hereditary condition that his sister Margaret Fitzgerald, 70, also has.
Their mother had died from the condition when she was just 46.
Margaret's son Michael Fitzgerald and her nephew Joe Cott also inherited the condition and required transplants.
Before his father died last March, Joe had received the good news that his brother Michael was a perfect match to donate a kidney.
Joe, a farmer living in Ballyclough, Co Cork, had been on dialysis for only a few weeks before the good news came that his younger brother would be his living donor.
On April 24, 2023, his brother underwent the procedure at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin and it was successful.
"I was very lucky that I didn’t have to go on the transplant waiting list and that my younger brother Michael stepped up and it turned out he was the perfect match," said Joe after the transplant.
Just five months after Joe's successful transplant, Michael Fitzgerald received a call to travel up to Dublin to receive his own donor kidney.
Michael, who is 49 and living in Carrigaline, had been navigating the complexities of his kidney failure when he got the unexpected call.
The second successful transplant in the space of a few months raised the family's spirits, with Margaret saying that her son was transformed following the procedure.
Michael has a new lease of life and has expressed his gratitude to the family of the deceased donor who made it possible.
Still overjoyed that her son and nephew were on the mend, Margaret could not have anticipated that just seven weeks later the phone would ring once more with good news.
Her kidney function has reduced to below 10% and she was due to begin dialysis treatment when the call came.
"Having two successful transplants for my nephew and son close together was so unexpected but I was in total disbelief when I also got called," she said.
"I had resigned myself to having to wait a few years and was just happy that my son and nephew's transplants were a success."
Before the operation, Margaret said she had not been well and had been exhausted for a long time but she had not anticipated just how much she would improve with the new kidney.
"When I woke up after my transplant operation it almost felt magical, like 'poof', a total transformation. The transplant is life-changing."
The Fitzgerald and Cott families shared their story as part of Organ Donor Awareness Week.
The Department of Health and HSE are currently working on the Human Tissue Act, with a commencement date expected to be announced shortly.
Once this commences, consent for organ retrieval will continue to be sought from the families of all potential organ donors.
"When the act is implemented, people who do not wish to donate their organs can opt out, and in these cases, their families will not be approached in the event of their untimely death," said Carol Moore, CEO of the Irish Kidney Association.
"All those who do not opt out will be considered potential organ donors, but their families will still have the final decision. The act will also allow, for the first time, for altruistic living donation in Ireland, where the donor does not know the recipient."
Last year, 282 organ transplant operations were carried out thanks to 95 deceased donors and their families, and 30 living kidney donors.
At any one time in Ireland, there are around 600 people active on waiting lists for organ transplants including heart, lung, liver, kidney and pancreas.
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