The woman who underwent the State's first lung transplant operation today described the "pure miracle" of being able to walk out of the hospital.
Two weeks after Veronica Doyle (56), from Limerick, had a three-hour operation to transplant a single left lung, she was today discharged from the Mater Hospital in Dublin.
Veronica Doyle Photograph: Frank Miller
The mother-of-three said she had been anxious before the operation but had kept telling herself she was just having a tooth out to stop herself worrying.
"When I woke up after the operation I was delighted. I'm alive, I've survived, I thought."
Ms Doyle said she was delighted to see her children Geoffrey (32), Jeremy (30), and Emma (27), after the operation and was now looking forward to enjoying life better with them.
"Today, 14 days after my lung transplant, it's wonderful. I can walk out of the hospital, I can wash my hands, I can wash my teeth. It's a pure miracle, it still hasn't sunk in how wonderful it is."
Ms Doyle suffered from a genetic condition which left her predisposed to emphysema.
Before the operation she was on oxygen every day, had home help and couldn't go to the shops.
"Recently I even found it difficult to take my hot water bottle from the kitchen to the bedroom," she said. "I haven't walked up my own driveway for nine years."
Dr Jim Egan, the lead transplant physician at the Mater Hospital said Ms Doyle's story was one of "courage and trust".
He said she would be on immuno-suppressant drugs for the rest of her life to prevent rejection of the donated organ.
Ms Doyle paid tribute to the organ donor and their family and urged people to carry donor cards or to fill in the relevant part of their driving licence.
"I'm so grateful for a new lease of life and I also want to give others in the same position as me hope. I'm looking forward to the simple things like walking around my supermarket, going shopping, or walking on the beach," she said.
Ms Doyle's son Geoffrey said his mother was a fighter who had never given up despite her 14-year illness.
Veronica Doyle
Of the May 12th operation he said: "We were all very confident, we never thought any negative thoughts - there's no point in those circumstances. We knew she was very strong."
The lung transplant, the first ever to be performed in Ireland, involved 27 people in the operating theatre.
Head cardio-thoracic surgeon Freddie Wood said that in addition to lung transplants his team was also able to provide aftercare for those who had had transplants abroad.
He said the aim was to ensure that all transplant operations currently performed abroad could be done in Ireland within the next two to three years.
The Tánaiste and Minister for Health Mary Harney said she was delighted Ms Doyle had been discharged following the successful operation.
"I understand that Veronica has recovered well and is going home today and I would like to wish her all the best for the future.
"The successful performance of the first lung transplant in Ireland represents a major achievement for all concerned, and I congratulate the entire multi-disciplinary team at the National Heart and Lung Transplant Unit at the Mater Hospital led by Mr. Freddie Wood, Lung Transplant Porgramme Director and lead surgeon, Dr Jim Egan and Mr Jim McCarthy."
Up to 90 pre-transplant patients are assessed at the unit annually and it is currently caring for over 250 post-transplant heart and lung patients.
Five heart transplants have been carried out at the unit since the start of this year.
PA