WATCH: ‘I can now do the things I love such as being a mum and a doctor’ - Ulster Hospital medic on life after a double lung transplant

AN Ulster Hospital doctor has spoken of reclaiming her life following a terminal diagnosis thanks to a double lung transplant.

Resident doctor Catherine McCarroll had first been diagnosed with a non-specific inflammatory lung disease while still in medical school, but remained medically stable for many years.

“Three years ago I found myself on the waiting list for a double lung transplant just after my daughter Eve was born,” she said.

“Ten days after Eve was born I was told that my already pre-existing lung condition had progressed and basically if I didn’t get the transplant within nine months to a year, I would die. This was devastating news for our family.”

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Speaking out as part of Organ Donation Awareness Week, she said that after struggling to even walk from her bed to the bathroom she couldn’t “be more thankful” to her donor.

The South Eastern Trust said that statistics show that around 7,600 people are currently in need of an organ transplant, including more than 250 children.

Even with 1,400 people donating each year, the waiting lists for donors continue to rise.

Since June 2023, all adults in Northern Ireland are considered potential organ donors unless they choose to opt out.

The change is named Dáithí's Law after Belfast boy Dáithí Mac Gabhann, who has been waiting six years for a heart transplant

Dr McCarroll received her “transformative” double lung transplant on January 16, 2022.

“If you do make that decision to come onboard as an organ donor you are making such a brave, selfless choice in giving someone the gift of life,” she said.

“Before my transplant I was on oxygen 24/7 and now I’m here doing all the things I love such as being a mum, being a Doctor and I couldn’t be more thankful to my donor. By donating your organs it is such a gift to someone who is on the organ donation waiting list. Every person that donates their organs can save up to nine lives. Until you hear someone’s own story you don’t really grasp how life changing it can be.”

Running until Friday, Organ Donation Week is a UK-wide event which encourages conversations across generations about becoming a donor.

This week, the Department of Health said that over a million adults in Northern Ireland - 55% of the population - registered their interest in becoming a potential organ donor after death, the highest rate of all UK nations.

Visiting the Renal Transplant Service at Belfast City Hospital, where 50 kidney transplants have been carried out this year, the Health Minister Mike Nesbitt called for continued education about the “lifesaving gift” of organ donation.

He also said that the introduction of deemed consent was not just about saving lives, but ensuring the wishes of individuals are respected.