A local mother has highlighted the importance of organ donation.
Milly Byrne from Co Monaghan has spent most of her life in and out of CHI at Crumlin.
Milly was a perfectly healthy little girl until she was 20 months old.
On 5th March 2020, she suddenly became unwell with breathing difficulties and was admitted to Drogheda Hospital.
Within 12 hours of being transferred to Children's Health Ireland (CHI) at Crumlin, her family were told she was in heart failure.
On 17th March 2020, Milly was then transferred to the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, UK, for the specialist care. It was the early days of COVID-19, and organ donations were at an all-time low. Two days after arriving, Milly was placed on a Berlin Heart – an external pump that kept her alive while she waited for a transplant.
Life in hospital became a balancing act for Milly’s family. Charlene told Northern Sound, “every day was about making the most of it, we had three other children at home in Ireland and couldn’t travel back because of COVID restrictions.”
But in July 2020, after months of waiting, the family received the call they’d been so desperately hoping for – there was a suitable donor heart for Milly. Charlene recalled that day: “They knocked on the door and said we’ve had an offer for Milly. It was surreal. I was screaming down the phone to my partner Gavin, who was in Ireland, telling him to get here as fast as possible.”
“We had to wait the whole day to find out if the heart was suitable. It felt like forever. We were anxiously waiting to find out if the heart was suitable and it was."
The very next day, Milly underwent her life-saving heart transplant. Her recovery was challenging, but slowly, she grew stronger. For Milly's mum, the hardest part of Milly’s journey was time away from home.
Charlene explained: “Being away from my children and home for so long was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. But the mantra that I live by is - Never look to tomorrow until today is gone. If you get through today with no problems, tomorrow is a better day.”
Milly is now continuously cared for by an extraordinary team at Crumlin, including the Transplant CNS Helene Murchan, transplant consultant Professor Colin McMahon, and the dedicated staff across the Children’s Heart Centre and ICU wards.
Now 7 years old, Milly is full of life. She attends CHI for regular check-ups every few weeks and is well known to the staff in the Children’s Heart Centre. She adores all of the CHI staff. “They’re her medicine,” Charlene said. “She gets better when she sees them.”
Speaking to Northern Sound, Charlene highlighted the importance of organ donation. She added that Milly’s journey wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible support of the various hospital teams, including her primary clinician at Crumlin hospital.
