Limerick father-of-four celebrates his transformed health after transplant
Married to Audrey, Ross Curtain says his children are delighted to have their father healthy and active again
Ross Curtain, a father of four from Ballysimon Road never realised how seriously ill he had become until a kidney transplant transformed his health.
Diagnosed with Polycystic Kidney Disease, a hereditary condition, he only discovered he had the illness after becoming seriously unwell while on holidays in his twenties. As he was adopted, he had been unaware of any family history of the condition.
For many years the condition was managed successfully, however by 2018 his kidney function had declined considerably. Reflecting on that time now during Organ Donor Awareness Week, he says he did not realise just how sick and exhausted he had become until he experienced the dramatic improvement in his health following his transplant.
He considers himself fortunate that he was on dialysis for just eight months before receiving the call to travel to Beaumont Hospital for his kidney transplant. During that period, he attended dialysis three days a week, spending four hours attached to the machine each session.
Married to Audrey, he says his children are delighted to have their father healthy and active again. Wanting to honour the gift he received from his organ donor, he resolved to embrace his second chance at life and make the most of his renewed health. Over the past two years he has taken part in the Regeneron Great Limerick Run as a tribute to his donor.
Living donor kidney transplant recipient Debbie Sheehy, a mother of two sons from Hospital is another promoting During Organ Donor Awareness Week.
She joined fellow volunteers from the Limerick Branch of the Irish Kidney Association (IKA) in visiting organisations and workplaces across the county to highlight the importance of organ donation and encouraging families to have conversations about their wishes.
The awareness campaign also included an information stand at the library in Dooradoyle, where volunteers met with members of the public to share information on organ donation.
Debbie, who is chairperson of the Limerick IKA branch, underwent a paired exchange kidney transplant at Belfast City Hospital in November 2022.
Her sister-in-law, Roisin Corr donated a kidney to a recipient in the UK, which enabled Debbie to receive a matching kidney from a donor in England through the paired exchange programme.