Mum’s plea for kidney donor to save life of her daughter

THE mother of an eight-year-old girl is pleading with local people to consider donating a kidney to transform – and potentially save – her daughter’s life.

Cora Connolly, who is a pupil at St Joseph’s Primary School, Drumquin, has stage four kidney disease, which has already caused her renal function to drop to around 25 per-cent.

Last year, a series of medical tests, which eventually concluded in a biopsy, revealed that the young girl had advanced kidney disease.

Since that initial diagnosis, the severity of her condition has worsened, developing from stage three to stage four.

If Cora’s condition continues to degenerate to stage five, which it probably will within a year, she will require a kidney transplant to stay alive.

“We just want what is best for our wee girl,” said Cora’s mother Ashlene, speaking with the Ulster Herald earlier this week.

“At some stage, she will probably need a kidney to save her life.

“Every parent will be able to imagine how hard it is to even say those words,” she said.

When Cora was first diagnosed, her mother and father, Ryan Connolly, struggled to appreciate the gravity of her illness.

“We didn’t really know anything about chronic kidney disease. We don’t have medical backgrounds, so a lot of it was sort of over our heads. As well as not being able to understand it, though, I don’t think we wanted to.”

Cora has three siblings: Her two big sisters, Megan and Leah, and her little brother Jack.

“Out of them all, Cora is the quiet one. She doesn’t say much, but she loves art and playing with her friends. Her condition makes her very tired though, but if I say gymnastics, you can see her perk up.

“She finds the energy somewhere,” said Ashlene.

However, the encroaching, debilitating fatigue born of Cora’s condition does trouble her mother.

“People always look at children and say they’d love to have their energy. Cora is not one of those children – she doesn’t have that because of her kidneys.”

But a transplant could give the eight-year-old the childhood zest that her condition currently deprives her of.

One of the most common changes experienced by people who experience a successful kidney transplant is a restoration of their energy levels.

“We don’t know if Cora’s condition will go to stage five, but chances are it probably will,” acknowledged Ashlene. “If that happens, we want to have a donor at the ready.

“It’s a bit of a process, so it takes some time to get both the donor and the donee ‘worked up’.”

While giving an organ is a massive sacrifice and a gift not to be given lightly, it is also one of the most selfless acts a person can perform in their life.

“There is a man from Drumquin, Dessie Hewitt, who gave a kidney four years ago and he told me it was the most rewarding thing he has ever done. As well as that, he said he has had worse toothaches.

“His words, not mine,” clarified Ashlene.

The support the Connolly family has received already has been heartening for them. On Decemeber 6, Ashlene’s auntie Phyllis will run a Santa Night in her grotto in Sloughan Glen, Drumquin, with all proceeds going to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, where Cora is a frequent visitor.

In a concluding remark, Ashlene said, “Thanks to everyone who has contacted us so far. The other thing I’d like to say is that organ donation is not confined to Cora. There are many people on waiting lists, praying for the day they get a call to say, yes, we have somebody. If you’ve ever considered becoming a living donor, do it. The bigger the pool, the more chance of getting a suitable donor. I don’t want another family to go through the heartache we are going through right now.”

To contact the family and express an interest in supporting them, you can reach Ashlene on her personal Facebook account, or by messaging the page, ‘Drumquin Through The-Years’.

If you wish to find out more about the donation process, contact your local donor centre. Everybody who seeks to enter the donor pool is subjected to rigorous testing to ensure the safety of both parties.