‘The transplant was a miracle’
RELIEVED LISPOLE FAMILY ASK DONORS TO ‘HAVE THE CHAT’ WITH LOVED ONES
THE O’Sullivan family from Lios Póil admit they haven’t been able to pay their #HaveTheChat campaign the attention it deserves over the last year, but that’s understandable given just how busy the past 12 months have been.
John Patrick O’Sullivan was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis around five years back, and his health deteriorated dramatically in late 2015.
While out delivering bread to a Dingle shop in December 2015, the father-of-four felt too weak to even push a trolley across the street. He finished work that day and was taken to hospital, where he would stay for six weeks. He left in a wheelchair and was dependant on oxygen for 24-hours a day.
The team in the lung transplant unit in Dublin’s Mater Hospital placed John Patrick on a waiting list, and his daughter Michelle recalls the anxious wait for what was effectively ‘ his only hope.’
“A new normal entered our lives, and it consisted of wheelchairs, hospital beds, oxygen tanks, nurses, doctors, trips to Dublin, and praying for answers,” she says.
“Only a few months later we got a call saying there was a lung for him, but sadly it wasn’t a suitable match and he was sent home. This happened again a second time, but thankfully the third call was an answer to our prayers.”
John Patrick underwent a lung transplant just over six months ago in August 2016, and Michelle said he hasn’t looked back since.
“Thing went perfectly, the difference was incredible. Just ten days after the procedure, Dad walked out of hospital himself without any need for oxygen. It’s hard to believe how different things are today.
“The difference it has made is incredible, and that’s why we’re encouraging people to ‘ have the chat’, particularly given that Organ Donor Awareness Week begins on April 1 and runs to April 8.”
#HaveTheChat is a social media-driven campaign founded by John Patrick’s family and friends to raise awareness about organ and tissue donation.
It encourages people to not only register for a donor card, but also to make your next-of-kin aware of your wishes to donate after your death.
This is because your next-of-kin is always asked for consent in order for donation to proceed, even if a donor card has been signed by the person in question.
The campaign challenges people to ‘ have the chat’ and nominate three people through social media to do the same. The O’Sullivan family also encourages campaign participants to post pictures, videos and messages about their experience of organ donation or ‘ having the chat’ on the Have The Chat Facebook and Twitter pages.
“I cannot describe the difference the transplant has made to my life, and I’d encourage anyone to get behind the #HaveTheChat campaign,” John Patrick says. “Before I couldn’t walk ten yards, but only yesterday I walked out as far as the lighthouse [in Dingle].
“It was like a miracle, and from the bottom of my heart I must thank all the medical professionals who looked after me superbly throughout, at local level, in Tralee, and Dublin. They couldn’t have done more for me.
“It’s human nature to take these things for granted; I used to play football, badly, but never realised how lucky I was. But the way I see it now, if you win the lottery in the morning, it means nothing if you don’t have your health. That’s the difference a donor made to my life.”
To become an organ donor you can contact the Irish Kidney Association (IKA) at donor@ika.ie; freetext DONOR to 50050; lo call; 1890 543649 or post to Freepost, Donor House,IKA, Park West, Dublin 12.
You can also sign the back of your driving licence to indicate that you wish to be a donor. A support group for people with similar conditions to the one that affected John Patrick meets on the last Saturday of every month at The Rose Hotel in Tralee at 3pm. All are welcome to attend.