This article is from page 3 of the 2009-10-06 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
IT WAS the most precious gift he could ever receive and what made it all the more precious was that it came from a total stranger in their darkest hour.
David O’Donoghue said he would forever be grateful to the family of the kidney donor who gave him back a quality of life he had long forgot- ten.
The Cooraclare man who dreamed of going to the races for the day with- out hurrying home can now see his dreams become reality thanks to the kidney transplant.
For two years and three months he was connected to ‘fluid dialysis’ five times a day, limiting him to his home beside the Danganelly Riding School.
At the beginning of the year, this harrowing regime had been replaced by night dialysis, which he was con- nected to for nine hours every night.
Then one night the call came that was to change his life forever. David recalls, “It was a Friday night about 11.30pm. The mother was at home and I was out at the brother’s house. She rang me to come back home quick; the transplant team in Beau- mont Hospital were looking for me. It was completely unexpected on
the same night. I had four hours to make it to Dublin.” David drove to Dublin himself that
night, with girlfriend Caroline by his side. “I was nervous. I was a long time waiting for this,” he said.
David’s transplant was a success, and every day he is getting stronger. “It is great to be free from dialy-
sis. | can do what I want now when I want and eat what I want. I have 10 times more energy than I had.
“Dialysis keeps you alive but you don’t have any energy. I would sleep a lot and I wouldn’t be able to work for long.”
He is now planning a foreign holi- day free of machines and illness.
The 36-year-old paid tribute to his mother’s support through out the last two and a half years. “It was strenu- ous on her and I couldn’t have done it without her.”
David also thanked Caroline and his brothers and sisters for their sup- port and made special mention of the Limerick Dialysis Unit, especially Freda, Brid, Dr Cronnin and Dr Cas- UA
““T hope the family of the donor know how grateful I am. I was allowed to write them a letter and I hope it was of some help to them. They probably will never realise what a great thing they have done.”
The 2009 IKA Annual Service of Remembrance and ‘Thanksgiving will take place in Corpus Christi Church, Drumcondra, Dublin, on October 10 at lpm.