Ashbourne CF patient on TV 'Gift of Life' transplant series

Young Ashbourne woman Orla Walsh features on TV3's 'The Gift of Life' this week. The series follows the stories of 12 organ transplant patients from all over Ireland, a couple who donated their son's organs to give others new life, and the medical teams in the dedicated transplant centres in Beaumont, St Vincent's and the Mater Hospitals in Dublin. The three-part documentary series is a behind-the-scenes look at the people for whom a transplant could mean a new life. Orla is a 22-year-old student veterinary nurse who is one of Ireland's 1,100 cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. She has been on the waiting list in the Mater Hospital for a double lung transplant for the past 18 months. The challenges Orla faces are familiar to the Walshe family. Her brother, Conor, who also had cystic fibrosis, passed away in childhood. Orla is now on the transplant list for the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle in the UK. At any one time, there are 600 people awaiting an organ transplant in Ireland. Six hundred people living in the hope that they will be called for an operation that may be their only chance of survival. The path to a successful transplant is difficult and uncertain and, every year, less than 50 per cent of those waiting will receive the organ they need. Whether it's a life led with a condition from birth, or a world turned upside down by the diagnosis of a terminal illness, the need for a transplant is an enormous burden to bear. Being on the waiting list means there is no cure. It is agonising, always waiting for the phone to ring, always waiting for the news that the generosity of a stranger may save your life. When a potential organ arises, there is the challenge to find a suitable recipient, before the organ is removed unnecessarily. In the event that a suitable match is located, it's a race against time to remove it, preserve it and transplant it in perfect condition - regardless of the distance. This is the work of Ireland's three transplant centres where dedicated specialists work night and day to ensure their patients get the best care they can provide. 'The Gift of Life' is an Animo Television production for TV3 and airs at 10pm tomorrow (Thursday 28th January).