Navan transplant veteran 'prays for donor every night'

A Navan man who had a kidney transplant 25 years ago still says a prayer every night for the young boy whose kidney has kept him alive all this time. "I will be eternally grateful to the young lad and his family," says Denis Gibney of St Ultan's Terrace, who celebrated the 25th anniversary of his transplant last week. Denis is one of a small number of people to have had a transplanted kidney last so long, and has surprised doctors at how healthy he has remained over the past quarter of a century. He says he had no life at all prior to the transplant, which took place on 26th June 1986. "It was just from bed to hospital for dialysis and back," he recalls. However, the transplant gave him a new lease of life, and 25 years on, his kidney is still working very well. His family gave him a big card and a present to mark the anniversary and he even enjoyed a few pints - something that would have been unimaginable 25 years ago, when he was just 23. Denis grew up in St Patrick's Terrace and then Dean Cogan Place and recalls having weak kidneys when he was at school. "I had to keep going to the toilet during the day, and it was difficult as some of the Brothers thought I just wanted to get away from class," he said. By the time he was 20, his kidneys had failed and he started on dialysis. "I was very unwell. The dialysis kept me alive and no more," he said. Denis lived at home with his parents, Mary and Paddy, and his siblings at that time. "My mother had to look after me - nearly do everything for me - and there was seven of us at home at that time." Because Denis was so unwell there was a collection in Navan to send him and his mother to Lourdes. "I was much too weak to go, so my mother went on her own. Just a few weeks after she came home, I had my transplant. She believes it was a miracle," he said. Denis was extremely weak and unwell on 26th June 1986 when two gardai called to his home at 1am to say there was a kidney available for him. "I had only just come back from dialysis. I was so excited but nervous when I heard a kidney was available. I realised I could die during the surgery, because I was in very bad condition." The gardai rang for an ambulance, but were told there wasn't one available so they brought him to Jervis Street Hospital by squad car. His father travelled with him in the patrol car while his mother and late sister, Josie, travelled behind and were waiting for him when he woke up. "When I woke up, there were a lot of tubes sticking out of me and I was in pain, but I was delighted it was over. I wouldn't like to have to go through it again, but it gave me a whole new life. It is no life being on dialysis. I wouldn't wish it on anyone," he said. Denis had his surgery in Jervis Street and was then moves to St Mary's Hospital in Phoenix Park to recover and eventually went home to Navan, feeling much fitter. "I have been told that my donor was a 13 year-old boy who was knocked down by a car and killed. I am very grateful to him and his family and still pray for them every night," Denis added. "The transplant made such a huge difference to my life. I will always be greateful to the donor and his family and I would urge everyone to carry a donor card so that others can be helped in the way I was," he said.