‘My donor was the same age as I was when he died’: Ireland’s longest-living heart transplant recipient gives thanks for second chance

Andy Kavanagh was 18 years old when he started experiencing flu-like symptoms: a cough and runny nose. A few months later, when the symptoms worsened, he was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, which causes the heart to lose its ability to pump blood well.

He underwent further tests. Then, in December 1985, his whole world shifted when doctors in the Mater hospital in Dublin told him he needed a heart transplant.

“I said he [the doctor] must have got that wrong. It must be Mr Kavanagh over there,” he said. “Transplant was a new thing, but you weren’t hearing it that often so you knew it wasn’t an everyday occurrence. I knew I was on a slippery road.”

Now, 38 years after his transplant, Mr Kavanagh said he never thought he would be where he is today. He is the longest-living heart transplant patient in Ireland, and the second-longest-living in the world. At the time of his surgery, he was told life expectancy post-transplant was normally one or two years.

Only a handful of heart transplants had taken place at the hospital when the Dublin teenager underwent his surgery in 1986 aged 19, under the care of renowned surgeons Maurice Nelligan and Freddie Wood.

While waiting for the transplant, there were two occasions in which Mr Kavanagh obtained an infection, meaning he was ineligible for transplantation when a donor organ became available.

“There were two donors became available and I had infections and so you just think it’s going to happen then. You wait for it to happen, all of a sudden you think you’re going to get a chance, and then it comes back to say ‘sorry Andy, you have an infection’. And you’re back on the wheel again,” he said.

“I was overjoyed after [I was told I’d get the transplant]. You knew you were going to die from having heart failure, or you were going to die from the heart transplant if it didn’t go well. Or if it did go well, you had a new shot at life.”

But even after his successful transplant, there were ups and downs. Mr Kavanagh was diagnosed with cancer in 2000 and had to have a kidney removed. Due to the anti-rejection medication he was taking for his heart, his other kidney soon failed and he needed a kidney transplant, which he received in 2006.

Despite this, Mr Kavanagh said he has lived a “long and happy life” and has been able to “do all the things I’ve wanted to do”. His three biggest achievements, he said, is getting married to his wife, having a daughter and having grandchildren.

“My donor David was the same age as I was when he died and I was lucky enough to meet his family a year after my transplant. I put an ad into the paper on the one-year anniversary to thank him and his family and then they contacted me. If it wasn’t for their decision, I may not be here today – organ donation saves lives.”

The Mater Misericordiae University Hospital first began its heart transplant programme in 1985 and continues to be the national centre for heart and lung transplants where over 400 transplants have since been performed.

Over the last decade, the programme has been expanded and now includes mechanical heart pumps, which can be implanted in patients awaiting transplant or those not eligible for transplant to keep them healthier and living full active lives for as long as possible.

Prof Emer Joyce, consultant cardiologist at the Mater, said the median life expectancy after transplant is now between 14 and 15 years, but said it is important to ensure transplant patients should follow a “protocol” with regard to living healthily after transplantation, and ensuring they are taking their medications.

“We want to get as many people as possible living beyond that median survival.”

There was a lot of innovation, including new medicines, machinery and AI, which could improve outcomes for patients, she added.

Dr Brian O’Brien, director of Organ Donation and Transplant Ireland, welcomed imminent changes to legislation which will see a soft opt-out to organ donation, adding that he “greatly encourages” people to discuss their views on the issue with their families.