Skipper celebrating clean bill of health with trawler Robyn

BY HELEN RIDDELL 

CASTLETOWNBERE fisherman Daniel Healy is not only celebrating the launch of his new trawler, but also the 11th anniversary of his kidney transplant.

Skipper and owner Daniel purchased the 20m Robyn RJ late last year, and, following some modifications, is now fishing with his crew of four, landing their catch into Castletownbere where he lives with his wife Maureen and their three children. 

Daniel has been fishing since he left school at 17, crewing with his father on his boats. The Robyn RJ was originally named the Richard Mary, but Daniel renamed the boat after his three children, Robyn (3), Ryan (7) and Jamie (9). Eleven years ago, following two years of dialysis, Daniel underwent a kidney transplant at Beaumont Hospital, Dublin. ‘I was on dialysis two days a week. 

‘At first it was being done at home, but I was getting a lot of infections so then I had to go up to Cork every
 week,’ he remembered.

It was while he was actually undergoing a dialysis session that he got the call for a transplant. ‘My phone kept ringing, it was under the bed, so I just left it to go to voicemail, then it rang again and one of the nurses said “I think you should answer that, it could be important.” I did and it was the transplant team!’

The kidney proved to be an exact match for Daniel, and it was all systems go from there.  He spent two to three months recovering from the surgery, and is now back to full health.