![\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/4886220_2_articleinlinemobile_dan_20organ_205.jpg\" "\\"")
Tadhg Fitzgibbon, Bandon, is on a waiting list for an organ donation. Picture: Dan Linehan<\/p>\nAcross the country, people will be hoping that their Christmas wishes will come true. That might mean a piece of jewellery, a tech device, or the latest toy. Most will be looking forward to something special on Christmas Day.<\/p>\n
But for the 660 people on the organ transplant waiting list in Ireland, the gift they hope for most this Christmas is restored health.<\/p>\n
Tadhg Fitzgibbon, Bandon, is on a waiting list for an organ donation. Picture: Dan Linehan<\/p>\n
Tadhg Fitzgibbon, from Bandon, has been on the waiting list for a new kidney for four years.<\/p>\n
Diagnosed with hereditary polycystic kidney disease, his quality of life is compromised, and he waits \u2018in a holding pattern\u2019 until a transplant can help him to live fully again.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother was on dialysis when I was growing up and I used to put her on the machine when I came home from school, and then, when my dad came home from work, he would take over,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Patients with polycystic kidney disease have a higher risk of aneurysm, and Fitzgibbon’s mother had one in 1981, which proved fatal. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy brother got diagnosed with the same condition in the late 1990s, and he was on dialysis for a few years, but he got a transplant 14 years ago and has been doing fine since,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n
\u201cI was diagnosed in 1995, and although I wasn\u2019t surprised to have the same condition, I was disappointed to say the least. But it remained dormant for a while, and I was being monitored every year to make sure everything was OK, but then all that changed about five or six years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2020, Fitzgibbon\u2019s kidney function \u201cwent south very fast\u201d and he began to get very ill.<\/p>\n
\u201cI lost about 25kg in weight and was in very bad shape,\u201d says the 60-year-old. \u201cI was started on dialysis in 2022, and since then I\u2019ve been going to CUH three evenings a week for several hours at a time. My diet is also very strict, and there are so many things I can\u2019t eat, plus I can only drink tea, water, and 7UP, so it\u2019s very strict.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t left the country for five or six years, firstly because I was too unwell. Then, since I started on dialysis, I can\u2019t even travel too far, because it would mean trying to get the treatment in another hospital, and that isn\u2019t easy, as I have to do it for three days each week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fitzgibbon was put on the transplant waiting list four years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only way to describe my life at the moment is that it\u2019s on hold. I\u2019m living in Groundhog Day, as every day I know exactly where I\u2019m going to be, what I\u2019m going to be eating, and what I\u2019m going to be doing: My life consists of eating, sleeping, and dialysis. I still work [from home as an accountant], but other than that, I\u2019m waiting. I can\u2019t stay on dialysis forever, as it begins to take its toll on other parts of the body.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fitzgibbon is married to Marian and has two grown-up children. Because some family members also have the same hereditary condition, he is waiting on a third-party donor. \u201cI would encourage people to have the discussion with their loved ones about organ donation, as it may help save or transform more than one life in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Francis](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/4886223_2_articleinlinemobile_Francis_20Hogan_203.jpg\" "\\"Francis")
Francis Hogan (centre) with daughter Sierra, wife Andina and sons Dayle, Leon and Byron Hogan at home in Templemore, County Tipperary. Picture: Brendan Gleeson<\/p>\n
Francis Hogan, from Templemore in Tipperary, also has hereditary polycystic kidney disease. His father had the condition but died in 2001 on the day that he underwent a kidney transplant.<\/p>\n
But, since being diagnosed 10 years ago, the father-of-five has lived a healthy and active life and has been monitored regularly.<\/p>\n
However, four years ago, his \u201ckidney function dropped to 25%\u201d, and he started dialysis.<\/p>\n
He is now on the transplant waiting list.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite having the same condition as my father, I was very fit, cycling the length and breadth of the country and able to do anything I wanted,\u201d says the 48-year-old.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had no symptoms whatsoever, but then I started to decline and was exhausted all the time. They discovered my kidney function was at 25%, in comparison to about 90% in most other people. It began to go down even further, and I started dialysis, which I do twice a week in Cork, staying over at the Munster Kidney Support Centre.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard to describe how I\u2019ve deteriorated over the last three years. Sometimes, when I look in the mirror, I can see an old man, who looks empty inside. I\u2019m not sure what to expect from a transplant, but I\u2019ve been told that everything in my life will improve, not only my health overall, but also my senses and everything.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t like to say that I\u2019m waiting for it to happen. I\u2019m a bit more optimistic and prefer to say that every day that passes is another day closer to my transplant.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seamus Patton, a Garda detective from Letterkenny, Co Donegal, has been waiting for a heart transplant since March of this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 2007, I became tired and out of puff and, after seeing my doctor, it was decided that I needed mitral valve surgery,\u201d Patton says.<\/p>\n
The father of five, who is married to Katrina, had another device fitted and went to London for a procedure on the left side of the heart.<\/p>\n
But by January of this year, he was still feeling tired and getting palpitations, so, after being assessed by specialists at the Mater Hospital, two months later, he was put on the transplant waiting list.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince then, I have got by, but have had bad nausea, vomiting, and fluid build-up, and, on September 12, I was admitted to the Mater due to an issue with my kidney bloods,\u201d he says. \u201c I\u2019m now getting medication infusions morning and evening for up to four hours.\u201d<\/p>\n
While it\u2019s \u201cdifficult\u201d being on the waiting list, he says, \u201cyou never give up on the hope of life\u201d.<\/p>\n
\n I want to plead to families: Have a conversation, think carefully and thoughtfully, and give serious consideration to organ donation, which can benefit up to five persons and greatly change the recipients\u2019 lives.\n <\/p>\n
Patton has yet to get a call from the transplant team at the Mater. \u201cIf and when it does happen, I will sadly never be able to thank the donor personally for the wonderful gift of life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Colin White, national advocacy manager with the Irish Kidney Association, urges people to \u2018have the conversation\u2019 with loved ones about their will to be an organ donor should they die.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe legislation rightly protects people\u2019s right to remove themselves from consideration as possible organ donors,\u201d he says. \u201cIt retains the role of the family in the final consent decision as to whether organ donation goes ahead or not.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is why the Irish Kidney Association\u2019s ongoing campaign about the importance of empowering your loved ones to act on your behalf by having the \u2018organ donation conversation\u2019 remains very relevant.<\/p>\n
The association\u2019s organ donor card (including the digital version) is a useful icebreaker.\u201d<\/p>\n
For more information, visit ika.ie<\/a> and mater.ie.\u00a0 According to the NKTS (National Kidney Transplant Service) report, approximately 560 people are active on the waiting list for a kidney transplant and approximately 100 are active on the list for other organs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Across the country, people will be hoping that their Christmas wishes will come true. That might mean a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":176175,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[14613,61,60,80],"class_list":["post-176174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-fitness-exercise-work-life-balance-healthy-eating","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176174\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n People can let their loved ones know their wishes and request an organ donor card from www.ika.ie\/donorcard<\/a>
\n
<\/p>\n