Maura Curran's youngest brother, Tommy, died of a brain haemorrhage at the age of 27 in 1994.
A regular blood donor all his adult life, Tommy also carried an organ donor card.
His family decided upon his sudden and tragic death that Tommy would have wanted his organs to be donated for transplantation.
"Tommy was in perfect health when he died. He was a clerical officer with the Eastern Health Board. He lived at home. He had a girlfriend. He loved his GAA and a few pints.
"He was never sick," says Maura.
Tommy Curran had a brain haemorrhage at his home in Clondalkin in the middle of the night. An ambulance was called and he was brought to St James's Hospital.
"He came round briefly in St James's and he was moved to Beaumont Hospital where he was wired up to machines but he was effectively dead.
"We were all there in the hospital - my mother, my other two brothers, Paul and John, and myself when Paul said we'll have to donate Tommy's organs," Maura says.
"We all knew that would exactly have been what Tommy would have wanted so we offered his organs to the hospital.
That was a Monday night and Tommy was kept on a life support machine for another 24 hours so that all his reflexes could be checked [to confirm his death].
Then he was kept on the life support machine all day Wednesday for the removal of his organs.
My mother received a call to say that all his organs were removed and they were on their way to wherever they were needed."
One week later, the Curran family received a letter thanking them for Tommy's organs and explaining how the kidneys, heart and liver had been successfully transplanted into four different patients, all of whom were doing well.
Every year since then, Tommy Curran's mother, Kay, sends mass cards to Beaumont hospital to be forwarded to the recipients of her son's organs.
From time to time, she receives anonymous letters, thanking her for the 'tremendous gifts' which have allowed one man live to see his grandchildren and another woman to give birth to a healthy daughter.
"You don't ever get over the death of a brother. Donating his organs doesn't lessen our loss.
"But, by allowing the donations, we have saved somebody else the pain we feel ourselves and that is some comfort." says Maura.
Sylvia Thompson