Brave four year old’s hopes for lifesaving present

A Galway couple has gone public to highlight the plight of their seriously ill four year old daughter who desperately needs a liver transplant to save her young life.

Sadhbh Browne from Mountbellew – the only child of Deirdre and Patrick – has battled illness from birth and has lived much of her first four years in the care of the staff at Crumlin Children’s Hospital.

But her situation deteriorated this time last year – and she has been on the transplant waiting list for a liver since July.

“Our beautiful Sadhbh developed Biliary Atresia within 24 hours of her birth – but last Christmas she became very ill after her condition worsened and she developed Cholangitis causing her liver to fail,” explained her dad.

“Myself, my wife Deirdre and other members of our family have already been screened for living liver donation but regrettably we are not suitable donors due to incompatible blood groups and other factors,” he added.

“Now as Sadhbh’s condition worsens, her only hope for survival is for her to receive a deceased donor liver transplant which would be carried out at King’s Hospital in London, where all liver transplants are carried out on Irish pediatric patients.

“We hope that by highlighting our daughter’s plight that the public will be moved to making an informed decision about organ donation which will give hope to our family and other families who are relying on a grieving stranger family’s selflessness to donate their loved ones organs,” said Patrick.

He was speaking at the launch of the Irish Kidney Association’s ‘Gift of Life’ Christmas campaign, encouraging families and friends to discuss organ donation as they gather for the festive season.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune