Tipperary mother and son benefit from kidney transplants
Anne Hackett and her son Paul are both beneficiaries of kidney transplants
Organ Donor Awareness Week, from May 16 to 23, holds profound meaning for one family whose lives have been transformed through loss and generosity.
Today, seven members of their family with hereditary kidney disease are alive thanks to the decision of the families of eight deceased donors to give the gift of organ donation at a time of profound grief, a gift that has given generations a second chance at life.
Anne Hackett, from Two-Mile-Borris, in Tipperary, the most recent of the family to experience one of these transformational kidney transplants - six years after her son Paul - shares their story.
Growing up in Skibbereen, Co Cork, as the second youngest of four sisters, kidney disease was an uninvited presence in Anne’s life from an early age.
Her father, a farmer, was diagnosed at a very late stage of the illness and passed away while on dialysis for a year at just 49 years of age.
She was only ten years old at the time.
That loss would be carried through the years, but it would also quietly shape the strength and perspective she and her sisters, Bernadette, Marian and Helen, carried into adulthood.
As the years passed, her three sisters would come to learn that they had polycystic kidney disease (PKD), a hereditary condition.
In Anne’s case, she was initially tested and advised that she did not have the condition. Life moved on, and like many families affected by PKD, the disease remained silent for decades, not becoming a serious issue for her sisters until they reached middle age.
For Anne, although she was previously advised she did not carry the same hereditary kidney condition, everything changed at the age of 37, when she began experiencing kidney-related issues. Further testing, supported by advances in medical knowledge, revealed that she, too, had PKD.
Fortunately, her kidney function declined slowly, through careful monitoring, medication, healthy living and diet.
It was not until her sixties that she progressed to dialysis treatment.
However, those later years before her dialysis began took a significant toll.
She shared: “The fatigue was constant and overwhelming. She had little energy, and everyday life became increasingly difficult.”
Eventually, the physical strain forced her to retire early from her career as a school teacher, something she had loved.
Her kidney function had dropped to 8% when she commenced dialysis treatment.
For two years, she underwent peritoneal dialysis at home each night, spending eight hours connected to the machine, a demanding routine that shaped her daily life as she waited for a transplant.
Reflecting on that time, she said: “I felt fortunate that dialysis worked well for me. Once I began treatment, I felt much better and came to see it as my lifeline while waiting for a transplant.”
The call for a transplant finally came in the summer of 2023, six years after her son Paul received his.
That call marked a new beginning for Anne.
Like her sisters, she received the gift of a kidney transplant from a deceased donor and a second chance at life.
For one of her sisters, Marian Crudge, who still lives in her native Skibbereen, that second chance came twice.
Her first transplant followed four and a half years of home dialysis treatment and lasted thirteen years until 2019 when she returned to dialysis, this time hospital haemodialysis.
She underwent her second transplant earlier this year.
Even more remarkably, Marian’s two sons, Owen and Peter Crudge, now in their late thirties, also underwent dialysis treatment each for three years before receiving kidney transplants one year apart in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
Anne built her life in Tipperary with her husband, John Hackett, who managed a local creamery, in Littleton, raising their family of three children.
One of the most meaningful milestones was watching her three children grow up, find love, and start their own families.
Her son Paul was diagnosed with the same hereditary condition in his twenties, and he underwent dialysis for over two years until he received a kidney transplant in 2017.
Today, Paul is married and living in Dublin with his American wife and their two young children, a 3-year-old girl and 1-year-old son, who are living, breathing reminders of the ripple effect of organ donation.
Anne’s other two sisters Helen and Bernadette live in Dublin.
It is a close-knit family spread across different counties, still bound together by their shared experience of kidney disease and, above all, by gratitude for the gift of life made possible through organ donation.
Anne is the Chairperson of the Tipperary branch of the Irish Kidney Association, giving her time to volunteer and support others affected by kidney disease. Her commitment to the charity continues to be central to her life.
Her sisters have lived through the untimely loss of their father with kidney disease, and their extended family has endured uncertainty, and faced the realities of a hereditary condition across generations.
Yet, thanks to the generosity of organ donors and their families, they have also experienced second chances, and the joy of watching life continue.
Anne said: “I am embracing my life now. Thanks to my son’s transplant, I have two more beautiful grandchildren. I enjoy playing golf, gardening, and living out the rest of my life with my husband.”
She also speaks about the importance of support.
“Peer support is really important. While we had each other as a family, the Irish Kidney Association runs an excellent peer support programme, and I would encourage anyone going through kidney disease or failure of any organ to talk to someone who has experience of it and understands it.”
Anne also highlights the unexpected positives that came from those who underwent medical testing to see if they were suitable for living kidney donation: “Some of our family were assessed for living kidney donation but couldn’t proceed for different reasons. However, through the thorough and robust testing, other potential health issues were discovered early, which gave them a heads-up and allowed them to address things before they became serious.”
Reflecting on her family’s health experience, Anne says: “My family supports me in sharing our story for Organ Donor Awareness Week to show how organ donation has helped so many in our family and across two generations. Eight families, we do not know, gave seven of ours the gift of life through kidney transplants, and many more lives were probably saved through other organs being donated by those same donors. We really hope people will talk to their families and make their wishes known.”
She adds, “We are deeply grateful to all donor families, and we hope our story can in some way bring them comfort in knowing the lasting and life-changing legacy of their loved ones’ final gift.”
The message this Organ Donor Awareness Week is simple but powerful – don’t leave your loved ones in doubt – share your wishes about organ donation.
The lifesaving awareness campaign is organised by the Irish Kidney Association (IKA) in association with Organ Donation Transplant Ireland.
To mark the Donor Week, buildings and landmarks across Ireland will be illuminated from dusk to dawn in green, the international colour of organ donation, as a visible sign of support and solidarity.
For more information or to request an organ donor card, visit www.ika.ie/donorweek.