GORDON KIRK

Gordon and Lynn Kirk

Gordon Kirk had ascites for years and due to what his wife Lynn calls the usual man thing he delayed seeing a doctor.  Neither a heavy drinker nor a smoker, he never thought for a moment that his ascites might be liver-related.  Eventually blood tests revealed a liver abnormality; then scans revealed a clot in the vena cava restricting blood flow to the liver; and after a referral to the Royal Victoria Hospital in 2014, a previously undetected clot in the portal vein was discovered.  By this time cirrhosis had set in and Gordon needed a transplant urgently.

 Before the clot in his portal vein was discovered, Gordon had been an outpatient in a local hospital for 8 years and although his condition was deemed stable, he was jaundiced and had very poor sleep patterns.  After cirrhosis set in he suffered encephalopathy so alarming that he was tested for a stroke.  His transplant finally went ahead in November 2015 after three false starts within nine months – he and Lynn had been called to King’s College Hospital in London and told, for different reasons each time, that the transplant could not go ahead.

 Asked what is different for Gordon after his transplant, Lynn’s answer is simple – everything.  Gordon is alert, active and happy.  Lynn does not have to speak for him as she did in the days when he was too weak and lethargic to speak for himself.  Both she and their daughter Andrea are still getting used to Gordon being fully involved in their life as a family, still not completely aware to the sheer scale of his recovery.  Gordon enjoys an active lifestyle, with a renewed interest in D.I.Y. and he has returned to his boating activities and to driving.

Gordon says: I am immensely grateful to the teams at RVH and Kings College Hospital for their patience and care.  Of course I will always remain deeply grateful to the anonymous donor and his family for making my recovery possible.  At ten months post-transplant I now have renewed optimism and look forward to tackling the future with vigour and optimism.

Please join the organ donor register, tell your family and friends you have done so and offer the gift of life to someone like Gordon.

It is a gift that will be cherished.   

Philip Cairnduff

In August 2004 Philip Cairnduff returned to Belfast from a Habitat for Humanity building project in Africa very sick and very jaundiced. 5 days later, after being transferred to Kings College Hospital in London, he suffered acute liver failure.  Doctors gave him eight hours to live unless a suitable organ became available for transplant.  Fortunately one did.  He received the transplant that saved his life less than a week after his 18^th birthday.

Before his transplant Philip was a Sixth Form student at Belfast Inst who had successfully completed AS examinations and was looking forward to starting his A2 year.  Outside school he was heavily involved in the life and work of his church.  His sporting life amounted to little more than cross country runs at school on games afternoons.

After his transplant Philip became an Advanced Motorist, completed a French and Spanish degree at Coleraine University (he lived abroad in Belgium and Spain during his 3^rd year), competed regularly in the British Transplant Games, represented Team GB at the World Games in Argentina in 2015 and became the first liver recipient to complete the Belfast Marathon in May 2016.  He ran the marathon in memory of his donor who would have been 60 this year had she lived.

He says: Our lives are shaped by the people we meet but among the most significant people in my life is a family I’ve never met.  Whoever they are and wherever they are, I live each day in gratitude to them and hope that they would be proud of all my achievements.

Please join the organ donor register, tell your family and friends and offer the gift of life to someone like Philip.

It is a gift that will be cherished.

Organ Donation week runs from September 5^th until September 11^th.

In recognition of this the RVH Liver Support group will be posting Before and After stories on its website during the week.  Each day a new story will tell of a liver recipient’s life transformed by the generosity of strangers.  The stories will illustrate the gift of life gratefully received and put to very good use by those fortunate enough to receive it.

You may well be familiar with some of the stories.  Please read and reflect on them anyway and encourage your friends, family and colleagues to read them as well.  Let’s hope that the power of these stories will help add more names to the donor register.

You will find them posted each day in the Stories section of the site.

Millbrook Lodge Fundraising Evening

Eddie Madine joined friends and family for a belated 50^th birthday party at Millbrook Lodge on Thursday 12^th May.  All proceeds from the evening went to the RVH Liver Support Group.

Eddie Madine presents the proceeds of his fundraiser to Kay Duffy, founder of the RVH Liver Support Group

 

Early in the evening Donald Cairnduff, chair of the RVH Liver Support Group, had spoken about the work of the charity in patient care, supplying necessary resources for the treatment of liver patients in the RVH and the promotion of the Organ Donor register.

It was a lively and enjoyable event.  Guests enjoyed supper to an accompaniment of songs from a wide range of eras to suit a wide range of ages, provided by DJ Johnny Quinn.  There was a display of Irish dancing by dancers from the Fegan – Curran  School of Irish Dancing.  An auction was led by Mr. Ian Wilson of Wilson’s Auctions and the evening ended with dancing to the Michael English Band.

 

A sum of £5,005 was raised and handed over to the charity’s founder, Kay Duffy, on the afternoon of 10^th June.  All connected with the RVH Liver Support Group are very grateful for the time and effort that Eddie and his friends have put in to raise this magnificent total.

Eddie is on the list for a liver transplant.  Let’s hope he doesn’t have to wait long before he gets the call that will restore him to full health.

Our annual carvery lunch for members was held on Sunday 22 May in the Seagoe Hotel in Portadown and it was a resounding success with some 80 members present. We had a private room this year and were extremely well looked after by the hotel management and staff. It turned out to be a lengthy afternoon which indicated the number of very useful conversations that were taking place. Members were delighted to meet others with similar stories to tell and similar experiences were recounted. It was well after 5.30 when the afternoon drew to a close. These photos show some of the members enjoying their day out.

Philip Cairnduff, the first ever liver recipient to run the Belfast Marathon, presents a cheque to Kay Duffy

Our chairman Donald Cairnduff talks with some of our members

 

A group of members pose for the camera with Kay Duffy

Eileen Hearst was circulating with the guests

Joyce and Michael Britt present a donation from their 50th wedding anniversary gifts to Founder Kay Duffy

Almost a year after his wife Nuala passed on, Andrew Hanna ran a very successful coffee morning and ballot in her memory in the Church of Ireland Halls in Irvinestown on Saturday 7^th May. The event raised the remarkable total of £4,245.25  for the work of the  RVH Liver Support Group.

The morning was notable for many things – the excellent catering, the steady stream of people coming and going from 11 a.m. until after 1 p.m. and, above all else, the calm and dignified way in which the family talked about their loss.

• The Hanna family: back l-r Jamie, Andrew and Gerald; front l-r Nicola, Kirsty and Sinead.

 

The ballot draw was at 1.15 p.m.  By this stage most of the winners had left, identified only by the names and addresses on their tickets.  These addresses spanned an area well beyond Irvinestown, with winners from, amongst other places,  Enniskillen, Tempo and Lisbellaw.  All of which is testimony to the respect in which the family is held and to the willingness of so many to support them.

 

 

 

• The wider Hanna family with RVH LSG chair, Donald Cairnduff

 

It was a privilege for committee members Donald and Jennifer Cairnduff to be there and to talk about the work and objectives of the Group.  Our thanks and best wishes go to Andrew, to his wonderful family and to all who contributed to a memorable morning by their presence and their generosity.

When Lucy Duffy was looking for young people to perform in Another Night on Broadway as part of the Kinross Winter Festival, 6 year Caoimhe Clough was the youngest of the 14 successful singers and dancers who auditioned.

The performance, product of several months of intensive rehearsals, was a huge success. Caoimhe had plenty of stage time on the night, performing solo parts in songs from Mary Poppins, Matilda, Annie and The Sound of Music.

All profits went to charity, with cast members nominating the charity of their choice.  As a grand-daughter of Chris and Mairead Gruhn from Belfast, Caoimhe chose the RVH Liver Support Group as her charity, in memory of her ‘Papa’s’ successful liver transplant in June 2015.

Thank-you Caoimhe – your thoughtfulness has given us £240 towards our work.  We wish you many happy and successful years ahead as you take to the stage.

Caoimhe with ‘Papa’ Chris Gruhn and Lucy Duffy (Director of Another Night on Broadway)

PHILIP’S FIRST MARATHON

Competing in 5k road races at the British and World Transplant Games, participating in 5k park runs on Saturday mornings and even completing a half Marathon was one thing.  Running the full 26.2 miles of the Belfast City Marathon was quite another.  This, however, was the goal that Philip Cairnduff, a liver recipient in 2004, set himself at the turn of the year.  If he was to do it at all, it was appropriate to do it in the year he turned 30.  And even more appropriate in the year his donor would have turned 60 had she lived.

Philip at the start with his coach John Glover

Honouring his donor and her family, whose generosity and courage had saved his life, was the main reason why he started the rigorous training programme that his coach at Lagan Valley Athletics Club, John Glover, devised for him in mid-January.  It was also the main reason for persevering with it through the cold and rain of the past winter.  Raising money for the RVH Liver Support Group was a secondary though not insignificant motivation.  His initial target was £500.

Here Philip takes up his own story: The lonely training evenings, sometimes for hours at a time felt very worthwhile up until 16 miles in.  A few miles later I learnt just what ‘hitting the wall’ really meant.  From then on it was a battle between an exhausted body and a stubborn mind.  All the way round I was grateful to strangers who were encouraging me but most of all grateful to the complete stranger who allowed me to turn up at the starting line in the first place.

He finished in 3 hours 31 minutes 36 seconds.  He is, as far as we know, the first Northern Ireland liver recipient to run the Belfast marathon.  He was mentioned in an editorial in the next day’s Newsletter as one of three competitors who were the ultimate ambassadors for an event that symbolises human endurance and will in the face of adversity. As for his fundraising target, thanks to the generosity of many who have been touched by his story, the total currently stands in excess of £2, 000.

But will he be running another marathon?  It’s far too early to say.

Philip with his proud backup team of dad Donald and mum Jennifer

Philip crosses the finish line with his time displayed on the overhanging clock.