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Ireland's longest surviving heart transplant survivor has said he would not have survived without the sacrifices of his grieving family.
Andy Kavanagh underwent surgery Dublin In 1986, when he was just 19, he visited the hospital hoping to get a second chance at life.
A year ago, the Dublin resident caught influenza which affected his heart muscle and led to him being diagnosed with cardiomyopathy.
He was faced with the need to undergo a relatively new surgery. Ireland Or they may face death from the disease.
In 2000 he was diagnosed with kidney cancer and required a kidney transplant four years later, and he told the Irish Sun he felt “fortunate” to have had two transplants.
He said: “When I was first told, I really thought it was a mistake, that something was wrong. You hear a lot about getting a second opinion, and I do too.”
“That's your perception as a young person: 'This can't happen. I'm 19 years old, I shouldn't need a heart transplant. I need heart surgery and stuff because I'm old.'”
Prior to the surgery, he had been in the hospital for six consecutive months, except for one week when he had an infection.
This meant he had to go back and couldn't leave until the surgery was over.
Just a year later, he underwent a heart transplant at Matter Hospital.
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At the time, there were only a few surgeries taking place there, having only begun the previous year, and he was under the care of surgeons Maurice Nelligan and Freddie Wood.
He received his heart from the family of a man named David, who donated his organs after dying in a drunk driving accident.
The two men were the same age when David died, and Andy was able to meet them the following year, a year after his surgery, after placing an ad in the newspaper to express his gratitude.
He underwent surgery but was not released from hospital until August.
He said: “I found out years later that the doctors were afraid to send me home because the others who had received the transplant had died. There was only one survivor. So the doctors were afraid to send me home in case something happened to me.”
The average survival rate for a heart transplant is about 15 years.
Long Life
But 38 years later, Andy is married, a father and a grandfather, with three grandchildren.
He works for An Post and is just one year behind the world's longest-surviving heart transplant patient, and said he “hopes to keep it that way”.
He added: “Only now am I reflecting on how much I've accomplished. I've had a daughter and watched her grow into an incredible woman. I have three adorable grandchildren.”
“Small stepping stones”
“It's all little stepping stones. I remember when my daughter Lindsay was growing up, I wanted to see her go to school, receive Communion and confirmation.”
“And I want to see her graduate, take her exams, go to university and all that stuff happen.
“We take these things for granted, but then when we step back and look at it, we can say, I had a transplant and I'm still sitting here looking at all these little things that happen.”
Since his surgery, more than 400 heart and lung transplants have been performed at Matter Hospital.
“A great sacrifice”
He was an avid cyclist and cycled 20-30km every day until he was involved in a hit-and-run accident two years ago.
Andy said he would never forget what two families did to give him a chance at life.
He said: “It was a huge sacrifice for both families. No matter what, to think about organ donation in a time of grief and give someone else a chance is a huge thing, especially in a time of grief.”
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“I wouldn't be here without people making big sacrifices. It's a big decision, which is why everyone needs to have a special conversation with their loved ones and family that they too want to be an organ donor.”
To order an organ donor card, here
