Auntie-dote to illness gave me a new life..
RTE star’s nephew reveals joy of fatherhood after transplant hell
The brave dad, from Skerries in North Co Dublin, told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “I have my hands well and truly full but I couldn’t be happier.
“Life is great, it’s fantastic. I’m back to full health again and it’s like having a whole new body.”
Martin developed IGA nephropathy, an aggressive condition which leads to kidney failure, when he was in his 20s forcing him to undergo dialysis for four-and-a-half hours at a time.
He said: “I was hooked up to a machine every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for three years.
“It was basically my whole day gone.” At first Vivienne, 46, was rejected as a donor match because she was pregnant but she persevered and sought a second opinion in the UK.
In August 2009 her right kidney was transplanted to Martin who made a full recovery and went on to meet his partner Mary and have two kids.
But in late 2013 the organ began to fail as his original condition came back and attacked it, forcing him back on dialysis.
He explained: “My second time round I went in at night but it was one in the morning when I was getting home and then I was back up with Ted at Vivienne, son Oscar, Mark and his children Ted and Daisy 5.30am or 6am. I was hardly sleeping, it was a nightmare.” Martin went back on the transplant list and relatives again went for testing. Then he received a call in November 2014 to say a kidney was available from a deceased donor. He said: “Everything changed after the second transplant. I feel full of energy. “It is sad to think a family lost a loved one but I will always be grateful to them for making such a wonderful decision at such a tough time.” Martin is also forever in his aunt’s debt as the first transplant left him in a stronger position for the second. He added: “You never forget a gift like that.” Vivienne told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “Once we got through the first and second year post-transplant I suppose I started to take it for granted and didn’t think about it failing. “It was devastating when he went back on dialysis but we had to stay positive. “The call [for a second transplant] came in the middle of the night and was a complete shock. I waited at the hospital. That was tougher than the previous transplant.
“Being involved as a living donor is definitely easier emotionally than watching.
“We both have busy lives and hardly get to see each other but I’m thrilled about the new arrival and to see Martin become a father for the third time post-transplant.
“I have four children and the youngest is just five so he is definitely a pal for Martin’s eldest boy, Ted.”
VIVIENNE TRAYNOR ON NEPHEW’S BABY NEWS
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Vivienne remains a huge advocate of the living donor process and said it was one of the best things she’s ever done.
She added: “Many people think carrying a card is enough.
“It’s certainly the right step but you also need your family to know your position as the next of kin will be the one making the decision.”
The Irish Kidney Association’s Organ Donor Awareness Week, from April 1-8, aims to remind people to let loved ones know their wishes and to support the IKA by buying a forget-me-not flower. Martin and friends will take part in the IKA’S Run For A Life at Corkagh Park, Clondalkin, West Dublin, on May 20.