Temple Street is back with another video in their Living Proof series which showcases firsthand how peoples' donations can impact patients' lives for the better.
In the final episode of the series, we meet brave Bernard Óg and his parents Marieann and Bernard from Galway.
Not long after his birth, little Bernard was rushed to Temple Street and diagnosed with renal failure.
Soon we're given an insight into the emotional rollercoaster that Bernard and his family went through over the years while he was on the waiting list for a kidney.
Temple Street Hospital is now the centre for renal dialysis for the entire country and it was Bernard Óg's home away from home for the next four years.
Bernard Óg and his family endured nearly 300 kilometers of traveling to Temple Street so the expert renal team could monitor his development.
"We would get up around 2am to start him on his fluids. And then we'd get up again around 3.30 or 4am and would hit the road to arrive in Temple Street for 8 o’clock. Bernard Óg would be on the machine for about three hours and then we’d be back on the road again to go home,” said Marieann, Bernard Óg’s mum.
After learning that Marieann couldn't give Bernard Óg a kidney, the family always prayed that a life-saving kidney would become available.
And then, late one Friday night, they got the call they had been waiting for. Thanks to the kindness of another organ donor, Bernard Óg’s was told that there was a kidney waiting for him.
“I was an emotional wreck, I was up and down the hallway crying and you'd be thinking of the other family, what they are going through. Every emotion runs through your head,” revealed Marieann.
After all those years, and all those miles, Bernard Óg’s transplant was a success and today he and his family can look forward to the future with hope and confidence.
They will never forget the people they met or the care and generosity of Temple Street’s wonderful family of donors they received in Temple Street.
“The care is second to none in Temple Street. They are just amazing. Each and everyone of them. They are like our home away from home.” admitted Bernard senior.
Bernard Óg will clearly never forget either. When you ask this brave little boy what he wants to be when he grows up, the answer is clear – “A doctor.”
Bernard Óg's story is only one of many - fellow patient Grace also talks about her experience in Temple Street.
To support Temple Street this Christmas, visit their website.