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.