Connacht Tribune
Brotherly love offers the gift of a new life
A Gort man, who donated a kidney to his brother nearly a year ago, is organising an event in aid of the Irish Kidney Association next Saturday.
Last March, Gerry Quinn donated a kidney to his brother John after the latter had been on dialysis for over a year. Live kidney transplants – where the donor is alive – are still quite rare in Ireland with only 50 taking place in 2016, the latest year for which stats are available.
BY CAROLINE WHELAN
The Quinn brothers story is a positive one in that there was a family member who was a match and willing to donate – but hundreds of kidney patients across Ireland don’t have a live donor available to them, and they must await that call relaying the news that a deceased donor has become available.
The lifespan of a kidney donated from a ‘foreign’ donor – a person who is not a family member – is usually between ten and fifteen years. However a kidney donated from a family member is a much stronger match, and will last much longer.
This was in fact John Quinn’s second kidney transplant as he underwent a similar operation sixteen years ago when he received the organ from a deceased donator.
Gerry Quinn said that although he was naturally a little bit apprehensive about undergoing such a major operation he was glad to be able to come to his brother’s aid.
“It’s hard to watch somebody be that sick. John was on home dialysis but he was just constantly drained of energy. He would most likely have been two to three years waiting for a donor, and to me he seemed to be getting sicker and sicker,” he said.
He had to undergo a rigorous physical and mental testing to ensure all was in order before the transplant could take place.
“After they test you, there is a fairly formal interview process to ensure you are fully aware of what you are doing, and they speak to you in depth about the after effects of the operation.”
There is always a worry that the kidney will not ‘take’ – that the recipient’s system will reject it.
But it worked; and Gerry said that was down to the team of professionals who took care of himself and his brother in Beaumont Hospital – the only hospital in Ireland where kidney transplants take place.
“They are a phenomenal team of people. They knew inside a few hours the kidney had taken well by how John Quinn’s system started to respond.”
Gerry says he knew straight away when he saw him that the operation had been successful had worked. “His colour had completely changed. It was amazing. He was quite literally a new man.”
Now Gerry is running a fundraising event in Gort next weekend to mark that it is nearly a year to the day since his kidney donation.
“John is one of the lucky ones. He is lucky there was someone within the family who was a match, and we are both lucky to be back in good health again. When you go up to Beaumont and see people who are so sick, it really makes you appreciate your health.”
He refers to the support offered from The Irish Kidney Association. “The Kidney Association fund a house on the Beaumont grounds for family members to stay at all times during the lead-up to the operation and throughout recovery.
“Coming from the west, this was brilliant for us. The family used it during the operation also – it’s super because the house is literally a hundred yards from the hospital door, so they can be popping back and over. It just means that with all that is going on, you don’t have to be thinking about accommodation on top of that.”
Possibly unusually for a man, the charity initiative is a fashion show!
“It is my fiancée really who is organising it. She works in events and loves fashion so it was a no brainer,” he said.
And it will go towards smoothing the path for others – because, as Gerry says, there will always be people who need to avail of the Irish Kidney Association.
“If everyone who comes out of a situation like ours did one small thing, that would make a huge difference. It is only when you have been through it that it resonates with you, but no one knows what their future holds.”
■An evening of Fashion and Fizz in aid of the Irish Kidney Association will take place in Sullivan’s Hotel Gort on Saturday, March 3. There’s a prosecco reception at 7pm and the Fashion Show will begin at 8pm. Tickets are available on Eventbrite and from Sullivan’s Hotel reception.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
