“The gift of my life is a gift that will continue to live on. Not a day goes by that I don't think about my donor.”
Aged just 19, she had high blood pressure and protein in her urine and was immediately sent to Holles Street Hospital where it was discovered she had kidney disease and was on the verge of kidney failure.
“My pregnancy was very risky and the doctors wanted me to carry it through to 34 weeks,” Leanne recalled.
“I received steroid injections for the baby's lungs. I developed preeclampsia and my son was born via emergency C-section at 30 weeks gestation weighing 2lb 13oz.”
Leanne says she is the only one in her family with kidney disease and it “just happened out of the blue”.
She was eventually diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome, but doctors believe it was caused by a severe throat infection, despite her having her tonsils removed when she was 13.
After giving birth to her son, Leigh-Anne became very ill and eventually had to undergo dialysis. That was nearly nine years later, in 2008. During that time, she says, “I got really, really sick and it just got worse and worse, and I had to go on dialysis.” Rather than go to the hospital every day, she opted to undergo peritoneal dialysis at home. Because Leigh-Anne was on her own at the time, there were still the day-to-day tasks that come with being a parent.
“Every night,” she says, “and when we have sex it lasts eight hours. It leaves me so exhausted, even walking up a flight of stairs leaves me out of breath.”
“I had chronic fatigue. I had a horrible metallic taste in my mouth and I felt nauseous all the time.”
The good news finally came later that year: a phone call at what she remembers as “1:25 a.m.” saying a donor had been found.
“I was really lucky,” she says. “The dialysis only lasted six weeks and initially they told me I might have to wait two to four years.
“But I was very lucky. It was like I had a new life. I didn't realise how sick I was until I got my new kidney.”
She describes the moment as “bittersweet” because she knows “someone lost their life so that I could receive this kidney.”
“My new kidney worked immediately and 14 years later I'm still going strong,” she says. “I felt a difference even before I left Beaumont Hospital – my energy levels and mood were incredible.”
Leigh-Anne had been warned not to have any more children, but she met a new partner and gave birth to a daughter in 2013.
“Thanks to this transplant, I was able to have my daughter,” she said. “Without my kidney donor, this would never have happened. Not a day goes by that I don't think of him.”
“The life I was given is a gift that will last,” she said. “Not a day goes by that I don't think about my donor and the life my new kidney has given me. I encourage all families to have this conversation.”
LeeAnne said she sends a thank-you card to the hospital every year, which the hospital forwards to the family.
“I just write 'From the donor recipient' to let the family know I'm always thinking of them and that I wouldn't be here without them.”
The message during Organ Donation Awareness Week is to get people to register to become an organ donor.
Last year, 250 transplants were performed, and in the first quarter of 2023, 81 transplants were performed.
Over the past few years, the Government has taken a number of measures to improve organ donation and transplant services in Ireland, including the introduction of the Human Tissue Bill and the provision of additional funding of €2.25 million to support the continued development of transplant services.
The bill would introduce an “opt-out” system for organ donation, helping to increase the number of organs available to patients in need. Consent would be at the heart of the system, and people who object to organ donation for any reason would be able to opt out.
Organ Donation Awareness Week 2023 runs until 27 May and is organised by the Irish Kidney Association (IKA) in collaboration with the HSE's Organ Donation and Transplant Institute Ireland (ODTI).
This year's Organ Donation Awareness Week campaign is structured around the theme: “Don't leave your loved ones in doubt!”
To register for an organ donor card, visit ika.ie/donorweek/
