Family who have had 7 transplant surgeries praise opt-out system
A FATHER whose family have undergone seven transplant operations between them has welcomed proposals to legislate for an ‘opt-out’ system of organ donation.
Seán Murphy and three of his adult children have a hereditary kidney condition known as membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, or MPGN.
Over the years, the family has amassed a total of seven transplant operations, including some from deceased organ donors.
They previously shared their incredible story on The Late Late Show to raise awareness of the importance of organ donation.
Last week, proposals for an ‘opt-out’ system of organ donation were approved by Cabinet.
Currently, when a potential organ donor is identified, the dead person’s next of kin is asked for consent to allow the donation to take place.
Under the new system, consent
‘Numbers on dialysis are high’
will be deemed unless the person has already registered their wish not to become an organ donor after death.
It is proposed that, even though consent is deemed, the next of kin will always be consulted prior to removing any organ.
Seán, a retired civil servant from Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, welcomed plans to press ahead with legislation, claiming it could provide not only a solution to a shortage of donors but also reduce the numbers on dialysis.
‘The numbers on dialysis remain very high, especially people that have to undergo haemodialysis in hospital, three days a week,’ he told the Irish Daily Mail.
In 1984, Seán donated a kidney to his son Bob, who had suffered years of poor health since childhood as a result of his kidney condition.
Seán was 45 when he discovered he had the condition. He underwent a transplant in 2007. His eldest son Jack also received a kidney transplant in 2007.
In 2014, the same transplant surgeon who conducted Bob and Seán’s operations – David Hickey – performed a living donor kidney transplant to Bob from his youngest brother Mahon, who does not have the condition.
Seán and his wife Síle’s only daughter Lia welcomed her healthy baby Colm Patrick Rooney into the world in September 2014, a particular cause for celebration as Lia had undergone a kidney transplant in 2011.
Two years ago, Síle said that ‘this would not have been possible without the generosity of a grieving family who donated a kidney to Lia’. Lia has since welcomed her second child, a son named Emmet, into the world.
Seán’s sister Nuala also has the condition and she underwent a transplant in 2014.
Seán said of the opt-out system: ‘I would support that to the hilt. I wouldn’t like to see a case where the doctors could do what they like without the family’s consent.’ The Department of Health will kick off a publicity campaign and public consultation in relation to the matter over the summer, paving the way for the legislation to come before the Dáil’s health committee after the holidays.
There are approximately 600 people in Ireland awaiting lifesaving heart, lung, liver, kidney and pancreas transplants.