A BELFAST dad is pleading with parents to consider putting their children on the organ donation register.
Mairtin Mac Gabhann is the father of 20-month-old Daithi Mac Gabhann who is awaiting a new heart after being born with rare Hypoplastic left heart syndrome.
Little Daithi has undergone three rounds of major surgery in his short life. The first procedure took place when he was just four days old, the next at 10 days old and again at four months.
Now, doctors have said that Daithi is too weak to go through another life-saving operation which has left Mairtin with no other option but to make a desperate plea to the local community for aid in finding a donor heart for his only son.
Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, Mairtin said: “We don’t want to make people consider the death of their own child, but death can also be life-saving.
“Daithi’s condition is like a ticking time bomb.
“We don’t know how long he has, but his condition is urgent. If he doesn’t get a heart transplant we will lose our little boy.”
What Mairtin and Daithi’s mother Seph Ni Mheallain want to see is a ‘soft opt-out’ organ donation system implemented in Ireland, which would render people automatically considered donors while still allowing families to have the last say after death.
Mairtin added: “We don’t know how long he can keep fighting, but if he doesn’t get a heart in the next couple of years, we will lose him.
“Day to day life can be stressful, but he gives us the strength to go on. He is always smiling, laughing and full of joy – he makes us proud every day that I’m his daddy.”
To find out more, visit www.facebook.com/Donate4Daithi.
