Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Liver transplant student keen to repay charities’ vital support
AN Ulster student is hoping to raise £10,000 in a bid to repay charities who supported him through a liver transplant. Aaron Smyth is keen to raise awareness of organ donation and encourage people to talk to their families about the issue. The 24-year-old last October became the first adult from Northern Ireland to receive a live liver transplant – thanks to his cousin Robert. Aaron said: “Around 20% of people die while waiting on the list and there’s a lot of people on the list and they do not want to put people on it because it’s so long.” Discovering his cousin was a match was a “huge gift” for the South Belfast man. He added: “I could never repay him or his family for letting him do that. He had a young son and daughter. “It was amazing. Robert really saved my life.” Aaron, who is orginally from Omagh, Co Tyrone, was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at 14 and five years later doctors discovered he had primary sclerosing cholangitis, an uncommon chronic liver disease.
SAVIOUR
In November 2015 he was placed on the live transplant list and told he could face a two-year wait. However, his saviour came in the form of his cousin and the pair underwent the procedure in London. Aaron is now aiming to raise funds for the RVH Liver Support Group in Belfast, the Todd Ward in King’s Hospital, London, and Live Life, Give Life who help to raise awareness of organ donation. With the support of his family and the staff of Tesab Engineering – where he worked for five summers – he is now fundraising. The Queen’s University mechanical engineering student said: “I wanted to repay the three charities who looked after different areas of my journey, especially since I have all this energy now.”