One brother’s lifesaving kidney donation to his sibling has been celebrated by their family as part of the Irish Kidney Association’s Organ Donor Awareness Week.
Last August, 39-year-old Buncrana man Gavin Doherty underwent a kidney donation surgery in Belfast – with the remarkable plan to then have the kidney transferred to his brother Eugene in London the same day.
The transplant procedure began at the Belfast City Hospital at 7am, where Gavin’s kidney was successfully removed and prepared for the transplant.
It was then flown across the Irish Sea to the Hammersmith Hospital in London where an expert medical team taking care of Eugene then carried out the life-saving procedure.
Within 12 hours the transplant was completed, and a new chapter of life began for Eugene.
After 12 weeks off work recovering from the transplant procedure and months of recovery, Gavin was then also able to return to his fully active lifestyle.
For the family it also carried poignant significance, as their mother Patricia Doherty (née Gillespie) had also received a donor transplant herself 18 years earlier.
That transplant had given the family many more years together as a unit, and now two decades later, Eugene would receive that same gift.
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“The medical staff, from the very beginning, were amazing,” Gavin said recalling the medical professionals who ensured both he and Eugene were taken care of.
“Every single one of them made the whole process calm and reassuring. We will forever be grateful for all they have done for us.”