Seven family members thankful for transplants

As Ireland marks Organ Donor Awareness Week, seven members of the same Cork-rooted family are celebrating life thanks to the ripple effect of organ donation.

The family members, all of whom have hereditary kidney disease, span two generations and are alive today thanks to the families of deceased donors.

Skibbereen native Anne Hackett, now living in Tipperary, is the most recent of the family to experience one of these transformational kidney transplants – six years after her son Paul.

For Anne, the second youngest of four sisters, kidney disease was an uninvited presence in from an early age following her father’s late stage diagnosis. After a year of dialysis, he passed away aged 49 when Anne was just ten years old.

In later years, her three sisters would come to learn that they had polycystic kidney disease (PKD), a hereditary condition. Though initial tests indicated that Anne did not have the disease, everything changed at the age of 37 when she began experiencing kidney-related issues. Further testing, supported by advances in medical knowledge, revealed that she too had PKD.

Thanks to slow kidney function decline, medication, and a healthy lifestyle, Anne did not require dialysis treatment until her sixties.

However, those later years before her dialysis began took a significant toll.

“The fatigue was constant and overwhelming,” she recalled.

Eventually, the physical strain forced her to retire early from her career as a school teacher, something she had loved. Her kidney function had dropped to 8% when she commenced dialysis treatment.

For two years, she underwent peritoneal dialysis at home each night, spending eight hours connected to the machine.

Reflecting on that time, she said: “I felt fortunate that dialysis worked well for me. Once I began treatment, I felt much better and came to see it as my lifeline while waiting for a transplant.”

The call for a transplant finally came in the summer of 2023, six years after her son Paul received his.

This marked a new beginning for Anne. Like her three sisters, she received the gift of a kidney transplant from a deceased donor and a second chance at life.

For one of her sisters, Marian Crudge, who still lives in Skibbereen, that second chance came twice, having had her first transplant in the early 2000s and receiving a second in 2019.

Marian’s two sons, Owen and Peter Crudge, now in their late thirties, also underwent dialysis treatment each for three years before receiving kidney transplants one year apart in 2021 and 2022.

Anne’s son Paul was diagnosed with the same hereditary condition in his twenties, and he underwent dialysis for over two years until he received a kidney transplant in 2017.

Anne, who is now the Chairperson of the Tipperary branch of the Irish Kidney Association, lives a life of gratitude and positivity as she gives her time to volunteer and support others affected by kidney disease.

She said: “I am embracing my life now. Thanks to my son’s transplant, I have two more beautiful grandchildren. I enjoy playing golf, gardening, and living out the rest of my life with my husband.

“Eight families we do not know gave seven of ours the gift of life.

“We really hope people will talk to their families and make their wishes known.

“We are deeply grateful to all donor families, and we hope our story can in some way bring them comfort in knowing the lasting and life-changing legacy of their loved ones’ final gift,” added Anne.

The message this year’s Organ Donor Awareness Week (16-23 May) is simple but powerful: “Don’t Leave Your Loved Ones In Doubt – Share Your Wishes About Organ Donation.”