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Just a year ago, Martin Malinowski could barely walk without feeling sick and short of breath.
Now, the 30-year-old has made history as the first person in Ireland to receive both a heart and liver transplant.
Martin, who lives in Castleblayney on Monaghan Island, moved to Ireland from Poland more than 13 years ago after his father got a job there.
He was studying for his degree when he first started falling ill. The former DKIT student said he had never been sick until he started feeling unwell, but what he thought was a viral infection was more serious.
In 2019, he was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis due to hepatitis C.
He told the Irish Sun: I never had any health problems.
“My family was also in shock, but no one could have predicted it. I was studying at the time, eating well and sleeping well, so I just assumed my symptoms were because I wasn't moving much. .
“But when I heard that I had cirrhosis, I knew that my only hope was a liver transplant and that there was no going back.”
Cirrhosis of the liver put strain on the heart, which led to cardiomyopathy and later heart failure.
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he said: “One day, I started having a dry cough. And I started gaining weight, even though I had no appetite.
“I couldn’t even walk short distances without feeling short of breath.
“But I was in my final year of computer science at the time and had exams, so I decided to go for it.
“After testing, I went to the hospital and was scheduled for a transplant evaluation a few days later.”
By last summer, he was rushed to the hospital with a severely slowed heart rate and had to have an implantable cardioverter defibrillator inserted to regulate his heart.
That's when he was placed on the transplant list.
He said: “My heart rate was very low and I was very scared. But when I first heard that they were considering having two organs transplanted at the same time, I had to process it. I had to accept that I was very sick and needed this surgery.
“Once I started accepting that, everything became a little bit easier and I had doctors, nutritionists and physical therapists who showed me how to go through it more smoothly.”
2 transplants
Meanwhile, Martin was waiting for a call, but his mood was getting worse and worse.
However, it was impossible to perform one surgery and then another at the same time.
he said: “It was always 2 or 0. If you transplant just one organ, it puts too much strain on the other organs. So they said it was 2 or 0.”
Mr Martin underwent surgery at the Mater Hospital before Christmas, with two transplant surgical teams working on his case: the Mater National Heart and Lung Transplant Unit and the St Vincent's University Hospital National Liver Transplant Unit.
Both organs were from the same donor.
donor savior
He said the surgery comes with sadness because the person who gave him a new start has died.
He said: “It was really difficult to even comprehend that someone lost their life because of this. I am so grateful to the donors and their families. The decisions they made literally saved my life.
“I was hiking in the mountains and a few months later I was on the transplant list. This shows that it can happen to anyone, older or younger. And they What we have done shows that organ donation can save lives.”
Furthermore, he added: I have a lot of energy and feel great. A year ago and now are as different as night and day.
“I can do a lot of things and I'm listening to my doctor's advice, but I can walk for an hour and I'm fine. I feel pretty much back to normal.”
sign up
He said he would encourage everyone to register as an organ donor.
“I would encourage everyone to do that and I think what happened to me is a good example of how it can save lives,” he said.
Mr Martin also thanked the two transplant teams and medical staff who looked after him, including Mater University transplant cardiologist Professor Emer Joyce and cardiothoracic surgeon Jonathan McGuinness.
“They were great and I received a lot of attention from them. It's disappointing to have had this kind of transplant for the first time, but they made me feel a lot better.”
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Professor Jim Egan, Director of Irish Organ Donation and Transplantation at the HSE, added: “Organ donation saves lives.
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“Martin’s remarkable recovery and the fact that this is the first heart and liver transplant ever performed in Ireland was only made possible through organ donation. Please let's talk.”
- To register as an organ donor, please visit: ika.ie/get-a-donor-card Or write code 115 on your driver's license.
Irish transplant statistics
Around 600 people are on the organ transplant waiting list in Ireland and more than 200 operations were carried out last year.
Martin was one of 206 transplants performed last year.
This is an increase from 2020, when just 190 transplants were performed.
The average number of surgeries over the five-year period from 2015 to 2019 was 283.
In 2020, 63 donors who donated 162 organs died.
These include 95 kidneys, 37 livers, 16 lungs, and 5 pancreases.
Nine heart transplants were also performed during the year.
In addition to deceased donors, there were also 28 living donors who donated their organs to help others.
In 2021, the number of deceased kidney donors increased to 65 and the number of living kidney donors increased to 35.
Saturday marks the beginning of Organ Donor Awareness Week, reminding people to register to become organ donors.
Speaking to the IKA earlier this week, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly announced that more than €1 million in extra funding had been allocated to transplant services this year to meet demand for donations following the introduction of the opt-out system.
He added: “I am grateful to all of our donors, their families, and staff for helping us provide this lifesaving gift to others. , we are committed to building on the progress we have made to date and use this opportunity of Organ Donor Awareness Week to highlight the lifesaving role of organ donation and how it affects recipients and their families. It is important to raise awareness of the improved quality of life it brings.”
