Former hurler, Derek Deegan, a married father-of-two toddlers, living in Graignamanagh, Co. Kilkenny, who spent two years waiting for a kidney transplant has spoken during Organ Donor Awareness Week of the overwhelming joy and gratitude he felt after finally receiving the life-changing call this month.

The transplant call came after a long and difficult health journey that began unexpectedly eight years ago. “When you get that call out of the blue, you’re trying to take everything in and then suddenly your whole life changes,” Derek, a native of Threecastles, said.

The young dad, who had lived and breathed hurling all his life and won All-Ireland titles along with numerous county medals, spoke publicly during Organ Donor Awareness Week last year about the harsh realities of life on dialysis and waiting for a transplant. Now, a year later, he says receiving a donor kidney has given him renewed hope for the future and allowed his family to start planning life beyond hospital appointments and treatment schedules.

Speaking during this year’s Organ Donor Awareness Week (16-23 May), he described the moment he learned a donor kidney had become available as “the best phone call you could ever get.”

After two years of living with severe restrictions due to kidney failure and dialysis, he said the transplant has already transformed both his physical health and his outlook on life.

“I remember waking up after the surgery and asking if it was working,” he recalled. “It felt like I got my life back. Physically, you are sore and tired after the surgery, but mentally I just felt overwhelming relief and happiness, but it was tinged with both sadness and gratitude for the donor’s family.”

Recovery after transplant surgery has been gradual, with hospital walks and careful monitoring becoming part of daily life in the days afterwards. “It was a slow start physically, but every day gets easier,” he said. “I had what was described by my doctors as a sleepy kidney after the transplant, so it took a little while for the new kidney to properly kick in, but thankfully things started improving day by day.”

He said within a few days his wife Anita noticed a change in him and his parlour after the transplant. “Anita said my colour was back and my eyes were clearer almost straight away,” he said.

The father-of-two spent two years on dialysis while, along with his wife, raising his young daughters, Méabh, age 2 and a half and Róisín who is seventeen months old, describing the period as both the best and hardest years of his life.

“My kids are everything to me, so in one sense they made those years special, but dialysis controlled everything,” Derek said. “You’re constantly planning around treatments and hospital visits. Now, for the first time in a long time, we can start looking ahead again.”

Derek also spoke emotionally about the generosity of organ donors and their families. “One family made the decision to give someone else a chance at life while going through unimaginable grief themselves,” he said. “I’ll never be able to properly express what that means to me and my family.”

While Derek recovered in Beaumont Hospital following the transplant, Anita stayed nearby at the Irish Kidney Association’s National Kidney Support Centre on the hospital grounds so she could remain close to him when he underwent surgery and recovery. The couple also relied heavily on the support of Anita’s mother Ann, who cared for the couple’s two little girls.

In 2018, a routine work health screening discovered high levels of protein in his urine. Initially there was little cause for alarm and Derek continued with annual nephrology appointments while carrying on with everyday life.

That changed dramatically in 2023 when follow-up blood tests revealed a sharp decline in his kidney function. Derek, was 35 when a kidney biopsy led to his diagnosis with IgA Nephropathy, also known as Berger disease which is a chronic kidney disease that can cause inflammation and irreversible kidney damage.

Within months, Derek had reached end-stage kidney disease. “To get that diagnosis was soul destroying,” he previously recalled. “I remember bursting into tears after the appointment. I had gone in on my own and then had to ring my wife, Anita, to tell her the news.”

In May 2024, Derek began dialysis treatment at University Hospital Waterford, travelling three mornings a week for four-hour sessions that left him physically exhausted.

Despite the toll dialysis took, Derek continued working as a calibration engineer and remained deeply involved in hurling through coaching and management with local clubs. He said the club were very supportive of him, and he can’t thank his employer, Avery Weigh-Tronix, enough for their understanding, encouragement, and flexibility throughout his treatment journey.

In support of Organ Donor Awareness Week (16-23 May), which is organised by the Irish Kidney Association in collaboration with Organ Donation Transplant Ireland, Derek is encouraging people to speak to their loved ones about organ donation and let their wishes be known.

“There are hundreds of people waiting for a transplant and hoping for that phone call,” he said. “Organ donation changes lives. I’m living proof of that.”

For more information about the campaign and how to get an organ donor card (now also available in digital format to store in your phone wallet) visit the Irish Kidney Association website www.ika.ie/donorweek

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