08-05-2025
‘I was one bad infection away from not making it' – Wexford mum heralds ‘life-saving gift' of organ donation
However, add into the equation an auto-immune liver disease which causes chronic fatigue, frequent infections and jaundice, and it's more than most could bear.
Avril was diagnosed with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC) when she was just 24 and it quickly became clear that managing the condition would be an ongoing battle. For a decade, she tried to push through the symptoms, rearing her family and continuing with her busy work life, but eventually her condition worsened and the strain became harder and harder to bear.
She was frequently hospitalised, often struggling with chronic fatigue and her jaundice became a frequent part of her life.
"I was diagnosed just after getting married to my college sweetheart,' she said. 'I always tried to make the most of life, doing all the things a twenty-something does – saving for a mortgage, expanding my family, thriving in work, spending time with family and friends – however, silently I suffered with symptoms like jaundice, chronic fatigue and infections that took me longer to recover from and multiple procedures.'
While always working to keep a level of normality for her family – husband Justin and daughters Alicia and Cora – two and a half years ago things came to a head. Doctors feared the worst and Avril was put on the list for a liver transplant.
"The outlook wasn't as hopeful, with more hospital visits, more symptoms daily,' she recalls. 'At that point I was referred to be assessed for a transplant. It was a process that came with an overwhelming mix of emotions - fear and uncertainty, but also a silent hope that I might be one of the lucky ones. That May I was officially listed.'
Throughout the time it was Avril's family and a burning desire to enjoy a future with them that kept her going.
"I could not have made it through without Justin's unwavering support,' she says. 'He carried so much weight when I couldn't and he stood strong when I needed someone to lean on.
'Our daughters were 17 and 8 at the time. Watching your children grow while wondering if you'll be around to see the next year of your life is a pain I wouldn't wish on anyone. But they gave me strength and purpose.'
Things would get worse before they got better.
"There were hospital admissions every two weeks. I was told I was one bad infection away from not making it. Then, just two months after being listed, I got that incredible call – a donor had been found.'
It was a call that brought a flood of emotions.
"In the midst of someone else's heartbreak, they had made that selfless decision to give the ultimate gift – the gift of life. That moment changed everything,' Avril says. 'It gave me back my future, it gave me more days with my family and it gave me hope.
"It's hard to put into words what it feels like to be given a second chance.'
"There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about my donor and their family. I don't know their name, but I carry them with me every single day. I live my life now in honour of them, with more gratitude, more purpose and more love. I am living now and not just surviving.'
Speaking at the official launch of Organ Donor Awareness Week, gratefully Avril is living proof of the life-changing difference that organ donation can make.
"Organ donation is not just a medical miracle. It's a deeply human act of compassion,' she said. 'It turns loss into legacy and pain into possibility. I'm here today because someone said 'yes'. That 'yes' saved my life.
"So today, I ask all of you, please consider becoming an organ donor. Talk to your families, let your loved ones know your wishes.
"One decision can give someone like me - someone's wife, someone's mother, someone's daughter – the chance to keep loving, keep living and keep dreaming.'
