This article is from page 6 of the 2014-01-14 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 6 JPG
LAST year was a record year for trgan transplants in Ireland, with at least six transplant recipients from Clare. One third of the Clare transplants were from living donors.
Four Clare people received kidney transplants last year while another was the recipient of a kidney and pancreas transplant.
There was at least one lung transplant recipient in the county.
Among the success stories were two living kidney transplant recipients in Clare both of whom received their transplants from family members.
Both transplants were carried out at Beaumount Hospital Dublin and both the donors and recipients have recovered well.
“The gift they have received has given these people a second chance at life as they now have a life free of dialysis. It’s the gift the recipients are so grateful for, as prior to been transplanted they were depending on machines to survive,” said Peggy Eustace of the Clare branch of the Irish Kidney Association.
“Sadly there have also been many donor families in Clare. We thank them for the generosity they have shown in donating their loved ones organs at a very difficult time for themselves.”
In 2013 as many as 293 organs were transplanted in Ireland compared to the previous record of 275 in 2011.
The highlight achievement was the growth in lung transplantation in the Mater Hospital from a record 14 in 2012 to a staggering 32 in 2013.
This is more than the equivalent of the previous four years of lung transplantation from 2009 to 2012, which totalled 31.
The second highlight is the consistently record-breaking living donor kidney transplant programme in Beaumont Hospital, which had 38 living donors and resulting transplants.
It brings the total living donor kidney transplants to 155 since the start of the service seven years ago.
The generosity of the 86 deceased donors and their families in 2013 dramatically altered and saved the lives of 245 people, 10 of whom received two organs.
There were 55 liver transplants performed in St Vincent’s Hospital and 11 heart transplants also conducted in the Mater Hospital.
In Beaumont Hospital a total of 195 transplant operations took place. 185 kidney operations, of which 38 were from living donors and 147 from deceased donors, 10 of the 147 also had simultaneous pancreas transplants.