Dialysis patient raising funds for hard-working health

A LIFFORD mother of three who is waiting on a kidney transplant has raised over €1,700 for the ‘amazing’ staff at  Letterkenny’s Renal Dialysis Unit.

Caroline McBride (nee McGhee) is currently at end-stage kidney failure and is on the waiting list for a transplant.

Caroline has been living with kidney failure for around 17 years, and for the past five years, she has been visiting Letterkenny University Hospital three days a week for four-hour dialysis treatments.

The majority of transplants have been postponed due to the Covid-19 outbreak, so for now, Caroline, like many others, depends on dialysis to keep her alive.
The 45-year-old is married to Neil McBride from the Glebe, has three children – Rhys, Rhianna and Rhylie and is the daughter of Sylvester and Eileen McGhee from Cloughfin, Ballindrait.

Caroline and her family are hopeful that she will get a transplant when everything returns to normal, but for now, she is self isolating due to being high-risk of Covid-19.

As she is a regular patient in the hospital, Caroline has seen first hand the pressure the nurses and doctors are facing, and she decided it was time to give something back in appreciation of all their hard work.

With the help of her children, Caroline kindly started a GoFundMe page to raise money for the ‘hard working and incredible’ staff at Letterkenny University Hospital, and has raised over €1,725 with donations still coming in.

This money will be used to buy gifts and goodies for the staff as they work on the front-line during the Covid-19 outbreak.

Speaking about the fund-raiser, Caroline said, “The staff have always been brilliant to me but at this time, nurses are coming into their work with the risk of Covid-19, and they are going above and beyond to help us.

“They deserve this for the care and attention they give us.

“They are the true superheroes in all this and it is good to be able to give something back.

“I started out by asking for donations towards getting stuff for the unit and staff who all do amazing work looking after myself and all the other patients.

“To say I’m delighted with the response is an understatement.

“Thank you so much to everyone that has donated so far.

“A big thank you to all of the people who are texting me to say they will leave a donation at the house and to everyone that has already left donations at the house.

“To any business that would like to donate anything masks, gloves, sanitizer, gift vouchers or even a nice gift of goodies, please get in touch with me – everything is appreciated,” concluded Caroline.

• To donate, visit Caroline’s GoFundMe page at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/5k-walk-r-run-with-in-your-2km-radius