Giving my daughter a second chance of life was so lovely
» Mumdonated kidney after Ella, 9, lost organs » Awareness of transplants in spotlight
SAMANTHA O’reilly was selling forget-me-not flower badges for the Irish Kidney Association five years ago when she got the call that she was an eligible organ donor for her daughter Ella.
The mother-of-three said: “I was standing on West Street in Drogheda when I got the phone call and I was like, ‘OMG buy a flower I’ve just become an organ donor’.
“To be able to give her a second chance of life, to rebirth her again, it was so lovely.”
Ella Hewitt, nine, was diagnosed with a type of kidney cancer when she was just four months old, but after chemotherapy and other treatments, she tragically lost both her organs.
Fortunately, her mum was eligible to donate one of her kidneys to her, and on July 1, 2019, she saved her life.
Samantha added: “Coincidentally, that was her diagnosis date four years earlier.
“So, it changed it to a happy date, it was always an awful date and now we’re like ‘Yay it’s the first of July’.”
The mother was speaking to the Irish Mirror at the national launch of Organ Donor Awareness Week 2024.
At the event, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly, said he aims to have the Human Tissue Bill in operation by the end of this year.
Mr Donnelly added: “There is a lot of work to be done, I can’t promise that it will definitely happen at this time because events occur, but we are working to have it through and operational in this calendar year.”
However, the Irish Kidney Association chief Carol Moore stressed people still need to speak to their relatives about their wishes.
She added: “The message we want to share is there is a lot of confusion around whether the act is in place or not, but there will still be a need for families to consent to organ donation so it’s really important that your family is aware of your wishes.
“Because you are three times more likely to need an organ donation than you are to be an organ donor.”
Marie and Denis Kealy, from Laois, know first-hand just how many lives can be saved by one organ donor.
Their two-year-old daughter Hannah died in a tragic accident in 2022.
And she saved four lives by donating her
That was also date of diagnosis 4yrs before, now it’s a happy date
SAMANTHA O’REILLY ON DONATING KIDNEY TO ELLA
organs. Her heart went to a baby boy, her liver to a premature tot, her small bowel and colon to another child and her kidneys to a young mother.
Marie said: “It’s a bit surreal really thinking her heart is still out there working but if it keeps a family out of our situation... it all helps.
“We have gotten letters from the young mammy and the little boy with the heart on how much their lives have changed, they are all flying it, even the little babies.”
In 2023, 282 organs were donated in Ireland, with 95 of these being from deceased patients and 30 from living people. There are 600 people in the country on the transplant waiting list, with the majority awaiting a kidney.
Christine Kelly, 74, from Dublin, has the longest-functioning kidney donation in Ireland.
Fifty years ago, when she was 24, her older sister Mary donated her kidney at Jervis Street Hospital. Typically, kidney transplants need to be replaced after 20 years, but Christine is celebrating 50 years with her healthy organ.
She said: “At that time there were very few [organ transplants], so I was very nervous about getting it.”