Family's gratitude for Mayo woman's 20 extra years - the impact of a liver transplant
A GALWAY woman is sharing her family’s story for Organ Donor Awareness Week (May 16-23) reflecting on the extraordinary gift that gave her mom, a proud Mayo native, two additional decades of quality living filled with family, GAA, and lots of milestones they never thought they would experience.
In October 2004, the family were told that Catherine had Primary Biliary Cholangitis and would require a liver transplant. At the end of February 2005, doctors told the family that their mom, Catherine Naughton, had just one week to live.
At that point, she had been hospitalised for five months, was unable to walk, and was being closely monitored due to the severity of her condition. She was critically ill and her family had been advised that she would be removed from the liver transplant waiting list because she was too unwell to undergo surgery.
Fidelma, from Headford, who works as a talent acquisitions manager for an IT company, explained the reaction to this devastating news: “We were devastated as a family on hearing this awful news. It was absolutely shattering to hear that she was facing death, we felt so helpless.”
However, she held on, improved only so slightly, and three weeks later Catherine underwent a liver transplant on March 19, 2005.
Not only did she survive, Catherine went on to live for another 20 very fulfilling years which Fidelma describes as “full, vibrant and beyond anything we could have hoped for.”
Catherine (fondly known as Kay or Kathleen) was a native of Shrule. After she married Tom Naughton, they moved to Birmingham and relocated back to Salthill, in Galway, where they reared their four children.
Catherine and Tom were proud Mayo supporters. Following her transplant, she returned to the GAA stands she loved, especially Croke Park, where some of their happiest memories were made.
“She would rise to her feet and cheer for Mayo, completely caught up in the excitement of the game,” said Fidelma. “Those days we spent with her in Croke Park were golden, they are memories I will treasure forever.”
For her family, the greatest gift was time. She became a devoted grandmother to children she was never expected to meet. She adored her five grandchildren and she got to see them grow up into young, beautiful adults.
Said Fidelma: “Mom never took her new life for granted. She was there for birthdays, christenings, communions, confirmations and countless family milestones, bringing her trademark glamour, energy and joy to every occasion.
“She didn’t just survive, she lived life to the full. She returned to the gym every day, travelled, and embraced life in every way she could. She made the most of her second chance and prayed for her donor, never forgetting her donor family. She visited Knock Shrine and Basilica a year after her transplant.
“She often said she knew it wasn’t her time and that she would recover.”
Catherine and Fidelma became actively involved in volunteering and raising awareness for organ donation week in Headford, with her mother proudly sharing her health story during organ donor awareness campaigns to anyone who would like to listen. “People would be amazed when she told them she had once been given a week to live. She was living proof of the success of organ donation. She really enjoyed seeing their reactions and receiving all the compliments on how well she looked.”
Catherine passed away peacefully in June 2025, at the age of 87, surrounded by her family.
“My father, Tom Naughton, got to spend nearly two more decades by her side before he passed away in September 2024. Mom had remained well until December 2024 but her health declined after dad passed away.
“Nine months after his passing, she was reunited with her husband in their final resting place in their native Mayo,” said Fidelma.
Fidelma explains that while her mother’s loss is deeply felt by all of the family, their gratitude for all those extra years with her remains strong.
“To the donor and their family, a thank you will never be enough. Because of your decision, we got 20 more years with her. Twenty years of memories we would not have had were it not for you.
“It’s never enough and the time went by so quickly but we are grateful that she got to enjoy so many beautiful memories. Our hearts are broken since our beautiful mom passed away but we are so grateful she got to see her grandchildren and enjoy the extra time that we never took for granted.”
Fidelma thanked the healthcare professionals who cared for her mother in St. Vincent's, including her transplant surgeon Professor Oscar Traynor, who passed away just six months before her mother. “We will always be grateful to the medical teams who never gave up on her and gave her that chance of life,” she said.
This Organ Donor Awareness Week, Fidelma is encouraging other to carry out the campaign’s message: Don’t Leave Your Loved Ones In Doubt - Share your wishes about organ donation. “Because one decision can change everything. For us it meant the world to have 20 beautiful years.”
Organ Donor Awareness Week is organised by the Irish Kidney Association (IKA) in association with the Organ Donation Transplant Ireland (ODTI).
For more information or to request an organ donor card (including in digital format), visit ika.ie/donorweek. The campaign poster (available in English, Irish, Polish, Hindi and Yoruba) can be downloaded from the same link.