By David Robinson, Belfast (Founder and President of NITA)

The Gift of Life

David Robinson

On All Fools Day 1971 I had my first heart attack aged 38. During the subsequent 20 years I had a total of 9 heart attacks, a stroke when I lost my speech and acute heart failure. The Medical Staff in several hospitals kept me alive
In January 1991, I collapsed and the Doctor said there was nothing more he could do and told me my heart was so badly damaged that I had only a short time to live. I would have to stay in the hospital until I died. This was a great shock to me and my family

However, I was asked to consider a heart transplant and not wishing for the alternative I asked the Doctor to make the necessary arrangements. I went for an assessment which lasted for 10 days at The Freeman Hospital, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. After a lot of tests they agreed to put me on the urgent list and I came back to The Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast to wait for a suitable heart which was my blood group, my tissue type and the right size from a donor within 5 lbs of my weight. It had to fit!

The operation lasted only four hours and I am told by the surgeons that it is easier to do than a by-pass and involves less pain.

My wife, Beverly, our five children and my brother were attentive and friends supportive which was a great boost for my morale.

After one day in Intensive Care I was up and eating a full three course meal!

Three days later I was on an exercise bike!

After ten days I was discharged to a small flat in the hospital grounds. Fourteen weeks later I came back to Belfast. Nowadays folk return home to Northern Ireland in four or five weeks I continue to ride a bicycle and try to get as much exercise as possible to keep my new heart healthy. I will take anti-rejection drugs for the rest of my life to stop my body attacking the new heart

After returning to Northern Ireland I realised that other people going to England for their transplants may benefit from my experiences and I started a support group called The Northern Ireland Transplant Association in October 1991. We started with 2 members and now in 2007 we have over 200! We travel the Province encouraging people to be aware of the desperate need for more organs and how easy it is to sign the Donor Card and Register and to tell their relatives of their wishes. Today there are over 90 folk living in Northern Ireland with new hearts, 90 with new livers, some with new lungs or heart and lungs and others with multiple organ transplants. They all went out of the country for their operations as we have too small a population to sustain a specialised Transplant Unit here for these types of operations.

There have been over 2000 kidney transplants performed at the Belfast City Hospital and numerous corneal transplants on folk living here.

Some people ask what I feel like having a 17 year old’s heart inside of my 73 year old body Apart from it beating stronger than my old, weak and damaged one there is no difference, I am so glad that he or she signed a Donor Card and the relatives saved me from certain early death by giving me The Gift of Life.
Every day I say a silent “Thank You” to my Donor Family. Don’t ask relatives to burn or bury your organs when you die. Please sign and carry a Donor Card so others may live.

By Terry Woods, Craigavon (Member of NITA)

The Gift of Life

I first started having trouble with my lungs in August 1981 when air started to escape causing severe pains in my chest. I was 21 years old married with 2 small children. My mother had died 2 months earlier after suffering for years with asthma and emphysema. She was just 45 years old. After a couple of weeks in Craigavon Hospital I was allowed home. I soon returned to work at the Ulster Carpet Mills.

Over the next 14 years my lungs collapsed a couple of times. I eventually had to go into the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast for operations to strengthen my lungs. Things went well for a while but eventually I developed asthma and severe emphysema. I was finding it a struggle to do my work. Even getting dressed in the morning was a real task. I was eventually laid off work in 1993 due to my illness. My father had died in February 1992. He too, suffered severe breathing problems.

My health continued to deteriorate over the next couple of years. I was 7 stone in weight and couldn’t do a thing. My wife, Noreen, was washing and dressing me daily as well as trying to look after our 3 children. In May 1995, I had a really bad asthma attack and I ended up on a life support machine in Craigavon Area Hospital 4 times over the next 1.5 years. I thought I was going to die.

In October 1996, I met the doctors from the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne, when they came to Belfast City Hospital. After being assessed, I was told that I needed a lung transplant or I wouldn’t be here in 2 years’ time. I was put on a waiting list and got a ‘bleeper’ and had to be ready to go to the Freeman Hospital within 20 minutes when the time came. After a year of waiting, the call came. An ambulance was at my door within 15 minutes and Noreen and I were away! At Aldergrove Airport we were put on a small plane with 2 pilots and away we went. As we were coming into Newcastle Airport, the pilot came to us and said “I’m sorry, but the operation has been cancelled.” I was devastated! We returned back home to Portadown to wait for the next time.

I eventually had a single lung transplant on 16th June, 1998 at the Freeman Hospital. After a couple of days I was out of bed and walking around the room. Soon, I was in the gym doing light exercise. After 2 weeks I was able to leave the hospital and move to a patients’ flat within the hospital grounds and I went to the out-patients’ department each day for tests. Just over 4 weeks later, I was able to come home.

I lead a fairly good life. I like to swim and walk. I have drugs to take each day and, although I have had some problems with rejection, it has not been serious. I enjoy participating – and winning medals – in the Transplant Games. I have several grandchildren who I never thought I would see. Every day is a bonus. I will be forever in debt to the doctors, nurses and other staff at the Freeman, Royal Victoria and Craigavon Hospitals for all the care they gave me.

A very special ‘thank you’ to Stuart whose lung I now have and to his family for the ‘Gift of Life’

By Claire McAuley, Belfast (Member of NITA)

I was born on 23rd June 1973. After 2 days the doctors and nurses realized that there was something wrong with me. I was blue around the mouth and nose and was having trouble breathing. I was then transferred to the Jubilee Hospital in Belfast. I was diagnosed with Congenital Heart Disease. My heart had only 2 pumps and my blood was being pumped around my body the wrong way. My parents were told it was unlikely that I would see my 2nd birthday.

However, against the odds I not only reached my second birthday but with the love and devotion of my parents I was able to attend mainstream school and live a somewhat normal childhood. While I was at school I was still in and out of hospital with chest infections and other childhood illnesses. At 17 I left school and worked in a busy insurance brokers for 4 years but by the third year my health was starting to deteriorate and eventually I had to leave work. For the next 7 years, my health continued to worsen and the death of my father was a crushing blow to me. I was unable to climb stairs and needed a wheelchair to get around. Finally I was told that an heart and lung transplant was my only option.

Four years of anxiety followed as I waited for word of a compatible heart and lungs. Several false alarms only served to increase my frustration. Eventually the call came while I was on holiday in London and I was whisked off to Newcastle-upon-Tyne. This time it was not a false alarm. I awoke a day later on 14th April 2003 to find the operation was a success and to begin the slow process of healing. Over the following weeks my family were able to travel back and forth to visit me and help in my recovery. Even though it was a tough time, after 7 weeks I was able to go home to Belfast.

It’s been 7 years now since the transplant and it’s getting difficult to remember just how poor my quality of life had been. I am now able to walk my dog, do housework and enjoy travelling again. Recently I have been able to volunteer for a children’s charity. I work in their offices 3 days a week and I am really enjoying getting back to a normal life. I will have to take anti-rejection pills for the rest of my life but that is a small price to pay for a good quality of health.

None of this would have been possible with out the generosity of my donor and their family. My time was short before my transplant but now I have been given a second chance and I intend to make the most of it, thanks to their wonderful ‘Gift of Life’.