Gareth’s hope after transplant trauma

Gareth’s hope after transplant trauma

3 December 2014

A DUNDRUM man who underwent three traumatic liver transplant 

operations in just 38 days has made an emotional appeal to potential organ donors.

Forty one year-old civil servant Gareth Hunter is recovering at his home following a dramatic journey for his successful third operation.

Speaking about his mounting anxiety as he waited at the top of the UK-wide transplant list for lifesaving surgery in July, he has made an heartfelt appeal for families to discuss their feelings about donation, which has given him a future.

Gareth was just 18 and in his first year at university when he was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder and warned he would one day need a liver transplant.

Uncertain about how long he had before his condition would deteriorate, he kept as fit as possible, running marathons and playing golf for almost 20 years before blood tests indicated his liver was struggling.

By 2012, he was unable to work and unfit to drive. Increasingly exhausted and struggling with muscle wastage and confusion due to the build up of toxins, doctors advised him it was time to go on the transplant list.

Although concerned about what lay ahead, Gareth said he was reassured by many success stories he had heard.

“I knew I needed a transplant and was pretty calm,” he said.

“I realised it would be a big operation, but the statistics were in my favour and I looked forward to the difference it could make.”

After a two year wait for an organ, Gareth received a phone call at his Dundrum home at 11am on June 11 to tell him a liver had been found. He was in London within four hours.

“I was flown to London by air ambulance and blue lighted to the hospital,” he said.

“I arrived before the donor organ, but until the liver was examined I did not know if the operation would go ahead.”

Following an seemingly successful seven-and-a-half hour transplant and 11 days of recovery, doctors made the devastating discovery of a clot in the new liver.

Gareth was rushed back to London where he rejoined the transplant list, this time as the most prioritised patient in the UK.

He spent a week on the ‘Super Urgent List’ before a second liver was found. He had the second operation on July 11 but incredibly a clot was once again found — a complication that affects just 2-3 per cent of transplant patients.

Level-headed Gareth says he was by now very anxious.

“When the second liver clotted I started to think either I was the most unlucky person around or there was a reason it was happening,” he said.

“No reason could be found.”

Back at the top of the UK’s list”, Gareth’s third liver was found in just three days.

Following that operation, which took 10 hours, he said he was filled with trepidation and keen to stay in hospital surrounded by specialised staff who could act quickly if a complication arose.

By August 9, however, almost nine weeks since he had left home for his first transplant, Gareth was finally back in Dundrum.

Four months later, he is feeling “pretty good” and is deeply grateful for those who gave him the opportunity for each of the transplants. He finds himself often thinking about the pain of those families who lost loved ones.

“At first I thought of the transplant as a purely physical operation that I needed to get better, but it has been unexpectedly emotional,” he said.

“There is an option for me to write anonymously to the donor’s families and that is something I will do in time. At the moment I am trying to get stronger.

“Eventually, I would like to write to all three because without the first two donors, and the information my consultants uncovered with those transplants, the third transplant would never have been successful.”

Gareth, who has been on the organ donors’ register since he was 11, said he hopes others will be encouraged by his story to chat with their families about their willingness to donate.

As part of the campaign to raise awareness about attitudes to donation, he hopes readers will use the hashtag #Dec11Tellyourlovedones on social media in the run-up to next Thursday.

This is part of a major campaign that will be held on December 11 to increase the number of organs available.

“If you ask people in Northern Ireland if they would donate an organ most people say yes, yet only 30 per cent sign up for the register,” said Gareth.

“I have been fortunate enough to be the recipient of three donor organs.

“That is life-changing. It is a gift and I am deeply grateful.”