Family find comfort in Oran’s ‘gift of life’

Oran died on Tuesday, October 7 when a heart donor couldn’t be found for the St Anthony’s pupil who had fallen ill following heart surgery four weeks previously.

While Oran couldn’t benefit from a heart donor his dad Barry said the family have taken comfort in the fact 
that Oran himself was able to give the gift of life to two people.

Barry said: “Both of Oran’s kidneys went to people. One went to a young adult and the other went to an older lady.It’s a great comfort that he was able to give the gift of life to two people.

“Oran didn’t get the heart transplant he needed but he was able to act as a donor himself. For this reason we want to raise awareness of organ donation and the importance of becoming a donor.”

Barry said that Oran, who was born with a congenital heart defect, had been in good health prior to a heart operation in Birmingham roughly four weeks before his tragic death.

Barry said: “Oran went to Birmingham for a Fontan heart operation which he’d been on a waiting list for for three years.

“The operation went well, but then he started to deteriorate badly. Many of his organs were failing and the only option was to put him on the heart transplant list.

“He was taken to Newcastle for the transplant but we didn’t get a donor in time.

“We were told on the Sunday he wasn’t going to make it. All the family were there to say their last goodbyes.

“They kept him on the machine for 36 hours so that his kidneys were able to be donated.”

Oran, a huge fan of the Disney universe, had been instrumental along with his mother and father Aisling and Barry and younger sister Molly in generating funds for an MRI scanner for the children’s hospital in Belfast.

Barry said the family would continue fundraising in Oran’s name for the Children’s Heartbeat Trust.

He went on to thank the community for their messages of support and condolence.

He said: ”The amount of people who have sent letters, cards and messages on Facebook has been unbelievable.

“A lot of the people who I don’t know have contacted me. They’ve just heard about Oran and felt compelled to contact us.

“The support we’ve received has been unbelievable and we want to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”

Oran’s funeral took place last Monday to St Anthony’s Church followed by burial in St John’s Lylo. His primary school, St Anthony’s, closed as a mark of respect.