Michael McHugh, farmer and concrete sales rep, from Killala, Ballgawley, County Sligo, has no doubt that his kidney transplant operation four years ago was a gift.

“I lead a normal life now and have tons of energy again,” he says.

“I’m farming, I’m working and I’m involved with the Irish Kidney Association doing things that I thought I would never be able to do. I have a wonderful life and I have that because of my donor and donor family. Getting a new kidney really was a gift of life. I can’t emphasise that enough.”

Kidney failure occurred for Michael at the age of 38 because of untreated high blood pressure, he says.

“I had seldom seen a doctor prior to that. My motto before I got sick was work, work, work, and if you do get sick, keep going anyways. I could never understand how anyone could be sick in the first place,” he days.

However, in January 2006 Michael started to feel very sluggish.

“I felt very tired and was getting headaches and feeling a bit nauseous,” he says.

“That progressed to me vomiting every time I ate and the headaches getting worse, but it was early September before I actually went to A&E.

“Looking back, I know I should have gone earlier, but I was just hoping, every day, that whatever was wrong with me would go away. I was a typical man, shoving it under the carpet.”

Michael’s blood pressure was double the average when he got to hospital, he says. “Two days and a lot of tests later I was told that I had damaged my kidneys.”

He was then transferred to Letterkenny General Hospital.

“The doctor in Letterkenny told me I was in end-stage kidney failure. I was so shocked, I didn’t know what to think,” he says.

“Me, in my innocence and ignorance, had thought that with a few tablets my kidneys would start working again. I had a big reality check that day. The doctor told me my kidney function was only 10% and that I needed dialysis. I was devastated. My personal, work and farming life was suddenly thrown up in the air. At that point, I didn’t know my own future. I was put on dialysis the next day and I had that three times a week from then until I got the transplant in November 2008.”

Michael was glad of his supportive family and friends when he was diagnosed.

“My employers too,” he says, “Moylough Concrete in Tuam. We sat down and talked it out and they were very understanding so I remained working with them the whole time I was on dialysis.”

The four-hour blood filtering process took place in the renal unit of Sligo General Hospital. Michael says he had a reasonable sort of a life on dialysis but he found the renal diet particularly difficult.

“You’re very restricted in what you can eat,” he says. “I was fond of chocolate and crisps and processed food, but all those treats were suddenly taken away. My wife was very good – she was the shadow beside me all the time, helping me through it.”

Michael had to be physically fit for a transplant before he could be put on the waiting list.

“It’s a process called work-up. You have to get your health sorted out before they’ll consider you for the operation – things like dental work have to be done so that there is no infection in your system that could affect you after the operation. That process took about eight months in all.”

The call came from Beaumont Hospital one morning at 2am and they reached the hospital before 6am, bag already packed.

“I was in theatre by 1pm that day and back on the ward by 7pm. The kidney took straight away and, from that day to this, I never looked back,” he says.

Michael is very grateful to the donor and that person’s family for the organ he received.

“I’ve written to them twice, anonymously. I hope it gives them solace to know that the person who received the kidney is doing well. Although I know it’s a happy time for me, I’m aware of the great sadness that’s in their lives.”

BETTY O’CARROLL

Betty O’Carroll (right) from Castlebaldwin, County Sligo, received a kidney transplant in 2007. Prior to that she was on dialysis for three and a half years.

Betty says that her transplant has made a huge difference to her quality of life and her donor is always in her thoughts and prayers.

Since her transplant, she is back driving and has been able to visit family in Australia – something she would never have been able to do without the transplant.

Betty and her husband Edmund are pedigree Irish Angus breeders and proud winners of the All Ireland Irish Angus Society RDS Champion of Champions Award 2011.

Betty has had a lot of medical challenges in her life and her kidney deterioration was due to long term treatment for lupus, an arthritic condition.

“By the time I was diagnosed with lupus in 1990, I only had 25% kidney function,” she says. “I was put on dialysis in January 2004 and, although I was told in 1990 that it would happen, it was still a shock when the time came.”

Like Michael, Betty had to be physically well in order to make it on to the transplant list, and this preparation included a gall bladder removal operation.

Betty was in Donegal on a two-day break when the call from Beaumont came.

“We had chanced going to Donegal for two nights after my dialysis and when we got the call we were in Dungloe and hadn’t a clue how to get to Dublin from there. In the end we got Garda assistance and got there in time after some fast driving,” she says.

Things didn’t run smoothly after the operation, however.

“The kidney didn’t work right at first,” Betty says, “and that was a low point for me, thinking I’d have to face going back on dialysis again. Luckily, after nine days it settled down and everything went okay, and so far, so good.”

Like Michael, Betty has written to the donor’s family to thank them.

“How would I forget them?” she says. “It was such a wonderful gift to receive.”