A toddler aged two, who passed away two years preceding, posthumously bestowed the priceless gift of life to four individuals via organ donation, as shared by her bereaved mother. Hannah Kealy, residing in Timahoe, Co Laois, tragically lost her life in an unfortunate incident in July 2022, and her parents Marie and Denis Kealy chose the noble path of donating their little angel’s organs.
The couple’s decision was solidified by the prospect of preventing at least one family from facing the trauma they had experienced, Ms Kealy conveyed. Through their loss, they gifted life – Hannah’s heart found a new home in a young lad, a part of her liver was given to an infant born prematurely, while her small bowel and hemicolon were transplanted to another toddler boy, and a young mother got a new lease of life through Hannah’s kidneys.
The joy these four families received from Hannah’s life-saving gift, has given her parents a measure of comfort during an unimaginably difficult time, as they grapple with the bittersweet reality that Hannah now lives on in others.
The story was told as part of Organ Donor Awareness Week in Dublin, where Ms Kealy was one of the speakers. Stephen Donnelly, the Health Minister, revealed his intent to bring into force, by the end of the year, a new organ donation system premised on ‘deemed or presumed consent’ following a person’s death, unless a previous refusal to donate was registered by the individual.
Following the President’s approval of the Human Tissue Act, Mr Donnelly encouraged his team to aim for a default organ donor system to be effective by year-end. He acknowledged the extensive groundwork required to make this a reality.
Ms Kealy affirmed that her child’s memory continues to live on not only in the four lives saved but also in all the individuals inspired by Hannah’s story. While mourning parents should not have to make such heart-wrenching decisions, Ms Kealy hopes that sharing Hannah’s legacy will illuminate the immense and lasting impact organ donation can have on so many lives.
Although they don’t know the recipients, Hannah’s parents have found solace in letters received from them, expressing their gratitude, which has brought some comfort to the grieving couple.
The Irish Kidney Association has reported that approximately 600 individuals are consistently on standby for organ transplants. In the previous year, organ transplant surgeries saw an increase of 32, tallying up to 282 operations carried out in Ireland.
Christine Kelly, a 72-year-old woman hailing from Glasnevin, north of Dublin, holds the record for longest functioning kidney from a living donor, having received a kidney from her elder sister, Mary, back in 1974. Although Mary passed away in 2000 due to breast cancer, Christine expresses that her sister’s memory lives on through the organ donation. Christine and her sister shared an extraordinarily close bond, living just next door to one another, and she sustains that the life-saving donation from Mary was incredibly significant.
Carol Moore, who leads the Irish Kidney Association as its chief executive, declared that without opting out, people are taken into consideration for potential organ donation, regardless, the final decision remains with the respective families. In a momentous turn of events, the Human Tissue Act will inaugurate the era of altruistic living donation in Ireland, enabling a donor to gift an organ to a recipient they do not personally know, for the first time ever.