A 30-year-old Polish national resident in Castleblayney has become Ireland’s first recipient of a combined heart and liver transplant. Martin Malinowski called this week for all families to actively consider and make decisions in relation to organ donation. With Organ Donation Awareness Week running until Saturday next, April 30, the Irish Kidney Association hailed the news of Mr Malinowski’s surgery as extremely significant for the campaign.
“We applaud all those involved in this ground-breaking collaboration and wish Martin continued good health as he enjoys a new lease of life,” the association said in a statement. The 30-year-old ‘Blayney resident underwent the highly complex surgery late last year. He contracted a viral infection in 2019 which caused liver and heart failure, and was told in hospital that both organs would need to be replaced. “When I heard the doctors were thinking about transplanting both organs, I was in shock. I needed a good few days to process that,” he said.
Dr Emer Joyce, Transplant Cardiologist at the Mater Hospital in Dublin, hailed the operation as “a ground-breaking event”. “Only approximately 200 combined heart and liver…
