Tag Archives: Irish Kidney Association

THE overall number of Clare people receiving some forms of kidney dialysis treatment at facilities in the Mid-West, has risen to 89, according the the Irish Kidney Association (IKA). As Organ Donor Awareness Week begins on Saturday (April 23), the IKA has released figures showing that 34 now attend the haemo-dialysis unit at University Hospital Limerick (UHL). A further 39 people attend Fresenius Medical Care on the Dock Road in Limerick. while seven Clare people travel to the B Braun Wellstone Unit in Galway, as it is closer to home for those patients. Patients must attend their unit three times a week for four hours of dialysis treatment in order to stay alive. A total of nine people are currently on the home therapy’s programmes. Dialysis works as an artificial kidney to remove toxins from the body when a person’s own kidneys can no longer undertake this function. All these forms of treatment keep the person alive until such time …

A NEWMARKET-on-Fergus man has described his life transformation as “amazing” following the receipt of a second kidney transplant. On November 23, Eoghan O’Neill (38) received a second kidney transplant from his brother, Hugh in Beaumont Hospital, Dublin. Receiving a transplant in the midst of a Covid-19 pandemic is a lot more difficult for dialysis patients. Eoghan explained Covid-19 delayed the transplant operation by three or four months, before it was finally completed. “Doctors want to get you out of the hospital as quickly as possible because of Covid-19. I stayed in Beaumont for just seven days, which is the main danger period after an operation.” Once he came home, Eoghan, who works in property management in Limerick, was strictly monitored and had blood tests in University Hospital Limerick twice a week. He admitted resuming dialysis for a second time wasn’t easy and is very grateful to his brother for giving him a new lease of life. “I received my transplant …

A FLAGMOUNT woman is using her new-found literary talent to express her gratitude to an organisation to that supported her to donate a kidney to her husband. Reah Higgins and her husband Aaron underwent surgery in January 2017 so that the couple could share the gift of life. For a number of years up to that point, Aaron had been on gruelling dialysis to manage his chronic kidney disease. “I was a live donor in this instance and fortunately it was a success,” said Reah, “We were blessed to be a match and it was a miracle really and life changing, in that we could make plans again. We had been very restricted before with Aaron on dialysis three times a week and often ill or fatigued. He now has lots more energy, less hospital appointments and his spark back.” Together with their sons Fionn (12) and Stephen (10), the couple have been enjoying greater freedom until the pandemic hit …

YOU don’t have to have sight to have vision. Those are the words of Lahinch woman Aine Mae O’Mahony, whose determination never to quit in the face of adversity provided inspiration to others at the national launch of the Irish Kidney Association’s Organ Donor Awareness Week. Aine Mae, who lost her sight in her twenties, was among those invited to speak about their health experiences at the launch, having undergone a double transplant last year. She received a kidney and pancreas and is enjoying a life without diabetes and dialysis, as a result of the gift of life given to her through organ donation. At the age of eight, Aine Mae was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. “There was not much known about diabetes at the time, nor any new developments in terms of its management and it was quite terrifying holding that syringe for the first time preparing to inject myself,” she recalled. At 25, she lost her eyesight …

A GORT man, who donated a kidney to his brother, is organising an event in aid of the Irish Kidney Association this Saturday. This time last year, Gerry Quinn donated a kidney to his brother, John, after the latter had been on dialysis for more than a year. Kidney transplants where the donor is alive are still quite rare in Ireland, with only 50 taking place in 2016. The Quinn brothers’ story is a very positive one, in that there was a family member who was a match and willing to donate. Tragically, for hundreds of other dialysis patients across Ireland, they must await a phonecall relaying the news that someone has passed away before donation is possible. The lifespan of a kidney donated from a ‘foreign’ donor – a person who is not a family member – is usually between 10 and 15 years. A kidney donated from a family member is a much stronger match and will last longer. Indeed, …

AN Inch widow has urged organ donor recipients to write a letter of acknowledgement or gratitude to their donor family. Marian Barry, Tullassa, was delighted to receive her first letter of gratitude from an organ recipient via Phyllis Cunningham, the national transplant co-ordinator, recently. Her husband, Christy, 39, died in 1989 from a massive aneurysm while he was out shooting with some friends leaving two young daughters, aged seven and a half and 11. He was taken to University College Hospital, Cork for emergency treatment. However, Marian recalls they were told at the time that even if they were at the gates of UCH, he would not have survived. His two kidneys and his eyes were donated after his death. A few weeks before her husband died, Marian watched an interview with a man on The Late Late Show, who spoke about how much a heart transplant had changed his whole life. Having seen the interview, she didn’t hesitate for …

President Michael D Higgins is to attend the Irish Kidney Association’s 29th Annual Service of Remembrance and Thanksgiving at Galway Cathedral, on Saturday at 12.30pm to honour organ donors and their families. Following this event at a packed cathedral, the President will be the guest of honour at the Circle of Life national commemorative garden for organ donors in nearby Quincentennial Park, Salthill. Here songs, music, dance and poem recitals will be performed by people touched by organ donation. The Circle of Life, scheduled to begin at 2pm, is being organised by Martina and Denis Goggin, parents of organ donor, Éamonn and founders of the Strangeboat Donor Foundation. The inaugural Service in 1986 had an attendance of 300 people and since then the numbers have increased annually and, in recent years, over 2,000 people have attended from all over Ireland. The decision to hold the service in Galway is to provide those present, who attend the annual service, the opportunity …

RUAN kidney dialysis patient, Mary Griffin was “shocked” when she was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease at the age of 57. The mother of six, who will be on dialysis five years at the end of April, is still waiting for that all-important call for a new kidney, which would utterly transform her quality of life. Urging people to support the annual Organ Donor Awareness Week campaign, which runs from March 29 to April 5, she also requested support for all fundraising activities undertaken by the Clare branch of the Irish Kidney Association (IKA). Two years before Ms Griffin was officially diagnosed, she wasn’t feeling, sleeping or eating well and was complaining about discomfort in her stomach. She underwent a number of tests  but they didn’t detect any stomach problems. In October 2008, she went into hospital and was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease at St John’s Hospital, Limerick, due to getting kidney infections. Her kidneys were functioning at 33% …