Anita Ainsworth from Galway left with her daughter Evie and Deirdre Roche-Doherty from County Kilkenny left with her daughter Ruth.
A mother believed to be the first in the world to give birth after three transplants has urged people to carry their life-saving donor cards.
Cystic fibrosis patient Deirdre Roche-Doherty has paid tribute to the grieving family who donated her lungs, heart and kidneys, saying she would not have had her 13-month-old daughter Ruth without them. Ta.
The 34-year-old first underwent a grueling double heart and lung transplant at London's Great Ormond Street Hospital at the age of 19, and in 2009 underwent a kidney transplant at Beaumont Hospital after medication had damaged her kidneys. .
“I never thought I would have children, but it was always in the back of my mind,” said Roche Doherty, a secondary school teacher from Graignamana, Co Kilkenny.
“My consultant said it was a possibility because I had the transplant to live my life. We waited a year for the kidney to heal. Then I was very lucky to be pregnant. It was great. I'm so glad I had her. Life was hard, but now I'm living a normal life like everyone else. ”
Anita Ainsworth is also celebrating the birth of her four-month-old daughter Ibby after a successful double lung transplant. The mother-of-two was diagnosed with LAM (lymphangioleiomyomatosis), a rare lung disease that affects one in a million women, and was given six months to live.
“She's amazing,” said Ms Ainsworth, 34, from Tuam, Co Galway. “We never thought she would be able to do it, but now she's living as normal a life as possible.”
Mothers helped launch Organ Donor Awareness Week (starting March 31), which urges everyone to carry their donor card. The Irish Kidney Association is also calling for an organ donor register in Ireland, allowing people to register on an electronic database.
Last year, a record 93 organ donors died in Ireland, and families agreed to donate 248 organs to critically ill patients. Approximately 27 living donor kidney transplants were also performed.
Approximately 2,800 people in Ireland have received organ transplants and are now enjoying long lives away from hospital. However, there are more than 650 people in Ireland waiting for an organ transplant.
