Dad's Plea ‘Everyone should be an organ donor. It’s a no-brainer’

Tallanstown father-of-two John Brennan has spoken out about his remarkable transformation following a heart transplant operation. And the 37-year-old dad says he is now on a mission to encourage more Irish people to donate their organs.

Whilst John is now over the moon to be back home with his family recovering and building his strength back up again, he told the Dundalk Democrat about the long road he and many others have to face when being considered for a heart transplant in Ireland.

John explained: “Last winter my wife and I were planning how we could spend Christmas in the hospital canteen. It was very serious. I had gotten sepsis and had 10 infections between 2015 and 2018.

“I really didn't think it would all go so smoothly after the transplant. For now, it's all about building up my muscle strength again after being in bed for four months straight. I've been attending the cardiac clinic in the Louth hospital.”

The local dad was born with a life-threatening heart condition, but he still wasn't eligible for a heart transplant until his situation became critical. He explains: “I was born with a condition called cardiomyopathy. Even though I was born with it, I wasn't diagnosed until I was 12. There are nine kids in the family and four of us have this condition.

“In 2001, my mum passed away suddenly from the same condition. She was only 48. When that happened the doctors thought - right, we better look into the kids’ conditions here.

“After that, we were all monitored on a yearly basis. In the summer of 2001, I had an internal cardiac defibrillator fitted. The doctors were concerned that my heart could just stop at any time, so this device would give my heart a shock and get it working again. I got this when I was 20. So between 2001 and 2015, they were constantly monitoring me.”

“When you need a transplant they take your heart function into account. My heart was operating at 35% but it has to drop below 15% before they consider you for a heart transplant.

“They monitored me for 14 years. And the older I got, the worse the function of my heart got. Usually, your heart stops developing when you are 21, but the defective gene that I had meant that my heart didn't stop growing. Every year I'd go in and the function would drop down. In 14 years time, it had dropped down to 22%.”

John says the impact on his life was huge. “I was in and out of work constantly. I had a very understanding employer, Tayto. But I'd be missing two to three days per week.

“In 2015, I had a chest infection which turned into pneumonia. I was put on life support. My body was shutting down, one organ after the other. I spent ten days in Drogheda hospital. The priest came around and I was anointed twice. I managed to recover, but it really affected my body.

“After that, I had to stop working in 2015. I had a very hard time adjusting to that mentally. It's one thing being at home when you are able-bodied, but to not even be able to get up out of the chair, it's very hard. Then in May 2015, I got pneumonia again. In between then and June 2018 I had 10 infections.

"I also had a TIA - which is like a mini-stroke. My body was being battered and in June 2018 it got worse. A chest infection turned into sepsis and I was rushed to the Mater hospital. They got it under control but my heart function was at under 15% - so I was put on the waiting list for a heart transplant.

“I had to come back reasonably fit, so they spent three months building me back up. I was put on the list at the end of August, 2018.

“During this time I had to walk around the hospital with a pump attached to me. I wasn't allowed to leave the hospital. It was taking its toll on me mentally. They organised for me to go home for six hours. We had a brilliant family day. When I came back to the hospital, I had hardly sat down when the doctor came in and said they had a heart for me.

“After you get that news there are a lot of things that have to line up. Normally there are three or four setbacks before you get a match. But thankfully everything lined up for me and I got my new heart on September 20, 2018. Then I was discharged and had to spend three weeks recovering.”

However there are still risks: “Even though I have a new heart, it's not plain sailing from here. I’m on a lot of medication. I was taking 50 tablets a day when I got home first. Now I’m down to 35.

“I’ll be on these for the rest of my life. If my immune system rejected my new heart I would die. so the medication tells the body to accept the new organ. I have had a number of follow-ups since and there has been no signs of rejection. Everything is going great.”

John says the changes have “been drastic” since he got the new heart: My kids saw me going in and out of hospital and being carried out of the house into an ambulance for a number of years. It affects the whole family.

“It's the simple things in life that I enjoy now. Being able to kick a football with my son, have a dance with my daughter. Or to head out for a walk with my wife and the dog. Just normal family life. To see the smiles on their faces, it makes it all worthwhile.

“These may seem like small things but these things were all taken away from me for three years. Everyone takes these things for granted. But we managed to get through it all as a family.”

After his harrowing experience, John says he is now ready to “shout from the rooftops” and campaign about how more Irish people should become organ donors:

“If the Government bring in the bill where people would have to opt out of being an organ donor, that would be the ideal situation. But it will take time to come into legislation.

“I've seen the other side of it. I've seen a 39-year-old man being sent home to his wife and kids to die. People shouldn't be dying so young. It's a no-brainer to me. Your organs are no use to you when you are dead.

“My donor, I always say, he saved seven lives by donating all of his organs. I only had weeks to live and he gave me a second life. It's a promise I made to my donor, to honour his life by making people more aware of how much we need donors.

“It sounds funny but I talk to my donor and give him weekly updates about what's going on. It is a mad situation which pushes your mind and body to its limits.”

John adds: “Saying goodbye to my son and daughter the night of the transplant was the hardest thing I ever had to do. I had a 15% chance of not coming out of the operating theatre and a 30% chance my body would reject the heart in the first week. I am so grateful.”

For more information see: www.hse.ie/eng/about/who/acute-hospitals-division/organ-donation-transplant-ireland/