As 19-year-old Matthew Doherty from Castlefinn prepares to sit his Leaving Certificate this June, he’s celebrating more than just a school milestone. This year also marks nine years since he received a life-saving kidney transplant from a deceased donor in 2016.
He was just ten at the time, and although too young to fully grasp the magnitude of it then, he now understands that it was a turning point that gave him a second chance at life, following sickness since infancy.
Matthew was diagnosed with atypical HUS (haemolytic uraemic syndrome), a rare, life-threatening condition, which impacted his kidney function.
Throughout his early childhood, hospital visits and treatments became routine. At age five, his kidneys could no longer function properly, and he started peritoneal dialysis at home five nights a week using a special tube called a PD catheter, which he affectionately nicknamed ‘Freddie’.
“That was just my normal,” he recalls. “It was all I’d ever known.”
In addition to dialysis, he also underwent plasma exchange, a procedure that replaced parts of his blood to try to control the disease. But despite the treatments, there were very dark moments.
His mother Louise remembers a particularly frightening time when he was placed on life support, and doctors had to weigh difficult decisions about which of his failing organs to prioritise.
“It was very bleak,” she said. “We didn’t know if he was going to pull through.”
Then, in 2016, came the call that changed everything – a donor kidney had become available. The transplant was successful, and for Matthew and his family, it marked the beginning of a new life.
His father Joe describes the impact as “night and day”.
Suddenly, the constant medical worry lifted, and Matthew was able to live like other children his age for the first time in his life.
Now that he’s older, Matthew understands and appreciates what the transplant meant. “I didn’t realise it back then, but I do now. I got a second chance thanks to my donor.
“It was a very difficult time for my parents with worry and having to making frequent trips from Donegal to Crumlin Hospital in Dublin while also caring for my brother Adam, who is four years younger than me.”
Matthew came home from hospital to a hero’s welcome in Castlefinn in 2016
Matthew’s parents, Joe and Louise, wrote anonymously to the donor’s family through the transplant coordinator soon after the transplant operation and again on the first anniversary. They expressed their profound gratitude for the incredible gift that changed all their lives.
Today, Matthew is living life to the fullest. He plays Gaelic football with his local GAA club, Robert Emmets in Castlefinn, and is hoping to study marketing at Sligo ATU after his exams. He continues to receive the immunosuppressant drug, Ecluzimab, that controls his Atypical HUS and protects his transplanted kidney by keeping his immune system in order.
Joe, Matthew, Adam and Louise Doherty on a trip to Disneyland last year
Matthew is now supporting the Irish Kidney Association (IKA), in raising awareness about kidney failure and the importance of organ donation.
“Because of another family’s decision for organ donation, I get to live a normal life. I’ll always be grateful.”
Organ Donor Awareness Week, which is organised by the Irish Kidney Association, will take place from 10-17 May.
The campaign message is “Don’t Leave Your Loved Ones in Doubt, Share your Wishes about organ Donation”. For more information on the campaign or how to get an organ donor card visit www.ika.ie/donorweek/
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