“I couldn’t be more thankful to my donor.” These are the heartfelt words of Ulster Hospital Resident Doctor Catherine McCarroll who successfully underwent a double lung transplant in January 2022.
As part of Organ Donation Awareness Week, Catherine recalls her inspirational journey from being terminally ill, struggling to walk from her bed to the bathroom, to getting her life back. Catherine was diagnosed with a non-specific inflammatory lung disease when she was in medical school, however she continued to be medically stable for many years.
“Three years ago I found myself on the waiting list for a double lung transplant just after my daughter Eve was born,” explained Catherine. “Ten days after Eve was born I was told that my already pre-existing lung condition had progressed and basically if I didn’t get the transplant within nine months to a year, I would die. This was devastating news for our family,” said Catherine.
Organ Donation Week is an annual weeklong campaign that raises awareness about the ongoing need for organ donors.
Statistics show that more than 7,600 people are currently in need of an organ transplant, including over 250 children. Each year around 1,400 people donate, but despite these remarkable people the waiting list for donors continue to rise.
From June 2023, all adults in Northern Ireland are now considered potential organ donors unless they choose to opt are or are in an excluded group. The Organ and Tissue Donation (Deemed Consent) legislation, known as ‘Dáithí’s Law’ in honour of seven-year-old Dáithí Mac Gabhann who has been waiting for the gift of a heart transplant for over six years, changes the way consent is granted and follows similar law changes in Wales, England and Scotland.
Catherine described how it was on January 16 2022 that she received her “transformative” double lung transplant.
Catherine continued, “If you do make that decision to come onboard as an organ donor you are making such a brave, selfless choice in giving someone the gift of life. Before my transplant I was on oxygen 24/7 and now I’m here doing all the things I love such as being a mum, being a Doctor and I couldn’t be more thankful to my donor. By donating your organs it is such a gift to someone who is on the organ donation waiting list. Every person that donates their organs can save up to nine lives. Until you hear someone’s own story you don’t really grasp how life changing it can be.”
Organ Donation Week runs until September 29 and provides an opportunity to raise awareness of the current law in place around organ donation.