Ulster Hospital doctor on receiving the gift of life after double lung transplant
A Northern Ireland doctor says will be forever thankful to a donor who gave her the gift of life over two years ago.
Catherine McCarroll, resident doctor at the Ulster Hospital, successfully underwent a double lung transplant in January 2022. She has shared her inspirational journey from being terminally ill, struggling to walk from her bed to the bathroom, to getting her life back to mark Organ Donation Awareness Week.
Catherine was diagnosed with a non-specific inflammatory lung disease when she was in medical school, however she continued to be medically stable for many years.
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She recalled: “Three years ago I found myself on the waiting list for a double lung transplant just after my daughter Eve was born. Ten days after Eve was born I was told that my already pre-existing lung condition had progressed and basically if I didn’t get the transplant within nine months to a year, I would die. This was devastating news for our family.”
It was on January 16th 2022 that Catherine received her “transformative” double lung transplant as she explained: “If you do make that decision to come onboard as an organ donor you are making such a brave, selfless choice in giving someone the gift of life. Before my transplant I was on oxygen 24/7 and now I’m here doing all the things I love such as being a mum and a doctor.
“I couldn’t be more thankful to my donor. By donating your organs it is such a gift to someone who is on the organ donation waiting list. Every person that donates their organs can save up to nine lives. Until you hear someone’s own story you don’t really grasp how life changing it can be,” she added.
Organ Donation Week runs until September 29th and provides an opportunity to raise awareness of the current law in place around organ donation. The annual weeklong campaign also aims to highlight the ongoing need for more organ donors. Statistics show that more than 7,600 people are currently in need of an organ transplant, including over 250 children. Each year around 1,400 people donate, but despite these remarkable people the waiting list for donors continues to rise.
Since June 2023, all adults in Northern Ireland are now considered potential organ donors unless they choose to opt out or are in an excluded group. The Organ and Tissue Donation (Deemed Consent) legislation, known as ‘Dáithí’s Law’ in honour of seven-year-old Dáithí Mac Gabhann who has been waiting for the gift of a heart transplant for over six years, changes the way consent is granted and follows similar law changes in Wales, England and Scotland.
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Health Minister Mike Nesbitt has welcomed Northern Ireland’s growing rate of support for organ donation. In this, the 30th year of the NHS Organ Donor Register, more than a million adults in Northern Ireland - 55% of the population here - have registered their decision to be considered a potential organ donor after death, the highest rate of all the UK nations.
To mark Organ Donation Week, Minister Nesbitt said: “Organ donation is a lifesaving gift, and with the number of people awaiting transplant exceeding the number of available organs, it is essential that we do everything we can to encourage and facilitate it. That means continuously educating and promoting informed conversation, as well as improving the infrastructure to support both living and deceased donation.
“That is something that our Health and Social Care system has done remarkably well, lifting Northern Ireland from having one of the lowest rates of awareness and support for organ donation in Europe, to one of the highest.”
The Health Minister added: “The introduction of deemed consent is just not about saving lives, it is also about ensuring that the wishes of individuals are respected. Crucially, families will always be a part of the donation discussion in the rare cases where donation after death is clinically possible.
“As we celebrate the remarkable achievements of 30 years of the ODR during Organ Donation Week 2024, this remains the best way to record your decision and I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to do so.”
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