Sixth kidney transplant was 'icing on the cake' for family celebrating nurse's wedding

The wedding took place three days after Ms Downes' uncle, Brendan McCarthy, underwent a successful kidney transplant in Sweden from a deceased donor. 

It is just one of many special days for the family, of which six members have received kidney donations throughout the years. 

Several members of the family have been affected by a hereditary kidney condition called Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD).

All the donations have been from deceased donors except for Louise Cowman's who received a donation from her sister Emma O'Connor, four years ago after a transplant operation in Belfast. 

Both women expressed their gratitude for medical advancements and the second chance organ donations have given their family. 

This includes their father Joe Fitzpatrick who received a kidney donation nine years after a transplant operation at the Beaumont Hospital as well. 

Ms O'Connor, 46, a mother of two and hairdresser working in Dundalk, Co Louth, said she is fortunate not to have developed PKD, the hereditary condition that has affected so many members of her family and usually remains dormant until middle-age. 

“I could donate my kidney to my sister Louise four years ago as I am fortunate not to have PKD. Louise had suffered preeclampsia with her twins, and this sped up the progression of her kidney disease and she was struggling. 

"Our father Joe Fitzpatrick who still lives in our native Poppintree in Dublin, had a kidney transplant nine years ago from a deceased donor and some of my aunts, an uncle, and cousins had organ transplants too," said Ms O'Connor.

She said her cousin's successful transplant in Stockholm on the first day of Organ Donor Awareness week was great and only topped by the wedding of his niece, Fiona, which was the "icing on the cake". 

"In fact, my cousin Brendan McCarthy, who is living in Sweden, underwent a kidney transplant at Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm on March 27, the first day of Organ Donor Awareness Week. 

"It was the icing on the cake, when three days later, his sister Anne Downes who lives in Sallins and who received a transplant five years ago, attended the wedding of her daughter Fiona Downes. 

"Fiona is a nurse and works in the transplant unit at Beaumont Hospital. Brendan and Anne’s mother Teresa received a life-saving transplant which gave them over 20 years with her before she passed away five years ago. My father’s brother Jim, since deceased, received a transplant when he was in his thirties," said Ms O'Connor. 

Ms O'Connor said her decision to donate a kidney was easy when she saw how much happiness previous donations had brought to her family. 

“We are a very lucky family and because of organ donation, everyone is well and in good health. It was a very easy decision to donate my kidney to Louise. She had young twins with their whole lives ahead of them and needed a strong well mammy," she said. 

There are between 550 and 600 people on waiting lists for organ transplants including heart, lung, liver, kidney, and pancreas in Ireland.

Last year there was a fall in the number of transplants across all the national transplant programmes.

The Irish Kidney Association said while the 190 transplants carried out in 2020 were 84 less than in 2019, the thoughtfulness of the 62 deceased donors last year amid the pandemic is inspiring.

Louise Cowman said she is thankful to her sister for gifting her a kidney donation and that she and her twin children feel very lucky. 

“I am so grateful to Emma for giving me the chance to live a full life again and my children feel grateful also as they can remember me when I was sick and had little energy. 

"My twins Andrew and Aoife who turned twelve years old during Organ Donor Awareness Week were only five when I went on the transplant waiting list. 

"Our whole family feel very lucky that so many of us have been given a second chance through organ donation and transplantation," said Ms Cowman.