Limerick siblings endure shared struggle with kidney failure and carry transplant hope

FOR beef farmer William O’Halloran, from a small village at the foot of the Galtee Mountains, farming has always been in his blood — but so too has polycystic kidney disease, (PKD) a hereditary illness that has tested his family’s strength and shaped their daily reality.

The Anglesborough native (42) is married to Annette, raising their four-year-old son, Darragh, along with undergoing dialysis treatment for kidney disease. His two siblings who live nearby also have the same kidney disease.

William's sister Noreen, who received a kidney transplant, built a house nearby which she moved into during Covid, having previously lived in Mitchelstown, and she continues to work in a solicitor’s office in Cork.

“I was diagnosed around 16,” William says. “We were tested after we found out Dad had it. All three of us - myself and my two sisters, Noreen and Brid-Ann - were diagnosed with PKD but our symptoms didn’t start to develop until we were in our late thirties.”

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Their father, Tom, also lived with kidney disease and was in his forties when he received his first kidney transplant in 1990, which lasted three years before being rejected. His second, in 1996, lasted nine years. For the final 15 years of his life, he relied on dialysis until his passing in June 2020.

“Dad was a great man,” his son recalls. “He farmed, he never gave up, but the final 15 years on dialysis took its toll. It’s tough going when your life revolves around machines and hospitals.”
The family suffered another heartbreak just 15 weeks after Tom’s passing, when their mother Ann died from cancer. “She went downhill very quickly after Dad passed away.”

Today, the siblings continue their kidney disease journey. Noreen, the eldest, received a kidney transplant in March 2013 after spending 17 months on dialysis. “She’s doing great,” William says.

“Looking at her, you'd never think she went through all that. She minds herself, works full-time and, takes her daily anti-rejection medication - she’s a credit to herself and her kidney donor.”
Brid-Ann is now being worked up to commence dialysis soon and to go on the transplant list. “She’ll be starting dialysis very soon,” William explains. “She’s at the stage now where her kidney function is so low, her health is declining and it’s becoming necessary.”

For William, the last two years have been particularly difficult. Prone to kidney infections and complications, his health declined sharply in late 2023. “I got very sick around November or December 2023. Couldn’t eat. Was in and out of Cork University Hospital. They found one of my kidneys was massive with cysts and had to be taken out.”

That nephrectomy was carried out in January 2024, and William began dialysis straight away. He now travels three times a week to Cork University Hospital, leaving his house at 6am, for four-hour dialysis sessions and the journey by HSE taxi takes almost an hour each way.

The physical strain has meant scaling back. “I come home on my dialysis with no energy and have to go to bed for a few hours before I get up again to do some work. I used to work on a dairy farm full-time while running my family beef farm. I continue to work on my own farm, just enough to keep things ticking over,” adds William.

He’s now on the transplant list, having cleared a gallbladder surgery in late 2024 that delayed the process. He has to adhere to a special renal diet with fluid restrictions and daily medication. “Getting a transplant would transform my life. I see it with my sister Noreen - what a difference it’s made.”

William is sharing his family’s story to raise awareness about organ donation. “Organ donation gives people time - time with their families, time to work, time to live fully,” he says. “A donor gave my sister Noreen her life back, and two donors gave our dad more precious years with us. I hope someone can do the same for me and Brid-Ann.”

William is grateful to the families of organ donors who made that profound life changing decision. “My Dad never got to meet my son. I want to be there - present and active - for my son as he grows up. I want to be well to be part of his life, and maybe even meet my grandchildren someday.”

He also credits the Irish Kidney Association for its support. “They’ve always been there for us, and by sharing my family’s story, I hope more people will understand how important organ donation is - and why Organ Donor Awareness Week in May, (May 10-17) which the IKA organises each year, really matters.”