Galway woman’s thanks for second lease of life
A Killimor resident who underwent a double lung transplant after three years on the waiting list is to fundraise for equipment at the hospital where the mammoth operation took place.
Rosaleen Clasby was first diagnosed nearly three decades ago with sarcoidosis, an inflammatory disease in which granulomas, or clumps of inflammatory cells, form in various organs.
Ireland has one of the highest incidences in the world of the disease. In Rosaleen’s case it decreased the capacity of her lungs by two thirds and her medical team decided that her only option was to have a double lung transplant.
The London native spent over three years on the lung transplant list, waiting for the call that donor lungs had become available.
Throughout it all, Rosaleen managed to hold down her job as credit control officer in the Portumna Credit Union with the help of colleagues.
The first call from the transplant centre came in June 2015. However, the lungs went to the next person on the list after a slight infection was detected in Rosaleen’s blood sample.
The second call came in October that year but she was sent home after one of the donor lungs collapsed and only one lung was available.
It was a case of third time lucky when in February 2016 she was got orders to come to the transplant unit. The operation performed by Dr Karen Redmond in the Mater Hospital took around seven hours.
She has now embarked on a plan to raise funds for the unit which saved her life.
“There are so many people still waiting for transplants. Some didn’t make it so it’s worth saying thank you. I was quite sick afterwards and everyone was so good to me from the kitchen staff to the top specialists. It’s been amazing.”
The dance will take place at the Shearwater Hotel Ballinasloe on Friday, November 30, with music by John Molloy. All proceeds will go to the National Centre for Heart and Lung Transplants in the Mater Hospital Dublin. Tickets are available in both Killimor and Portumna Post Offices and in local shops. Contact 087 272 7336 or the hotel on 090 963 0400.
See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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