Celebrating life by answering Ireland's call

Four West Cork men were on the Ireland transplant team who played a match at Turners Cross on Saturday November 25th, including Liam Patterson from Dunmanway. Through sport, they are highlighting their gift of life, and hoping to play in next year's inaugural Transplant World Cup

BY MARTIN CLAFFEY

WHEN Liam Patterson was awaiting a liver transplant, drifting between hospital and home, unable to work and enduring chronic tiredness, he could hardly have envisaged that less than 12 months later, he'd be playing for Ireland, with hopes of playing at the World Cup next year.

But that's the situation for the teacher from West Cork, who is determined to spread a message of hope to those awaiting transplant.

Liam is from Ballinacarriga, near Dunmanway, ‘a stone’s throw from the castle’, where his parents Charlie and Kitty live, while his brothers Cathal and Shane played with Randal Óg. Shane works as a manager with Carbery and he won a Munster Junior B medal last year. He gave up this year. Cathal farms locally.

Liam attended UCC and moved into secondary school teaching before doing a postgraduate diploma in Mary Immaculate in Limerick in 2001 and moving into primary school teaching. He taught in Monaleen from 2002 to 2006 and played football and hurling for Monaleen before becoming principal of Broadford in Clare in 2006.

Liam had met and married Annette, and had started a family. He was involved in GAA in Broadford. Life was busy but good. And then something started happening.

‘In 2009, I started getting a few infections. I, and I knew there was something wrong.’

Liam Patterson from Ballinacarriga, who is a member of the Ireland transplant squad.

Nothing could have prepared him for what the doctors told him though: he had cirrhossis of the liver. ‘I wasn’t a big drinker, and it wasn’t hepatitis, so the doctors couldn’t get to the bottom of it. It was a bit of a mystery.’

Liam’s professor Ian McCormack in St Vincent’s in Dublin explained it was now all about managing his condition. Liam was playing centreback for Monaleen but contact sport was quickly curbed. Alcohol was cut out, salt and sugar were monitored, all aspects of lifestyle under watch. Even then, things started taking their toll.

'I was low on energy and I stepped back from being principal in 2013. It wan’t fair on the staff, on the school, or on my family. It took the pressure off me a bit and I was able to “muddle” along.’

Liam ‘muddled’ along for years. In 2017, Liam suffered sepsis. ‘It could have been something as simple as an insect bite that caused it. I was out of it for 48 hours,’ he says.

But he continued to ‘muddle along’, so much so that a medical paper was written on his length of time between diagnosis and complete liver failure. But in May 2022, that moment arrived.

‘I was at a function in the Westlodge Hotel in Bantry. It was my mother’s birthday, and the lights just went out,’ said Liam. ‘I was erratic during the meal, acting strangely, and then I couldn’t find my way back from the bathroom.’

In St Vincent’s, the message was stark. ‘The professor just laid it out to me. He said: “You’ve reached point break.” The toxins in his blood were no longer being regulated. In July, there was a repeat experience in Broadford, where neighbours had to help him downstairs in his own home. A transplant was needed quickly.

The process of awaiting transplant is a tough one, for patients and doctors. Patients are in desperate need of the transplant, as their quality of life has reached such a low point. For medics, the decisions must be made on who will be next to receive a transplant. ‘I can only imagine the decision-making, sometimes a matter of life or death. It must be awful,’ said Liam.

Liam went through the pre-transplant tests, where medics check everything to ensure there are no external factors which could affect a transplant. ‘It was so thorough, right down to checking my teeth and the follicles in my hair,’ said Liam.

And then the purgatorial wait, and the not knowing. For Liam, his energy was sapped, sleeping through large parts of the day. Surviving.

And then one day, the call. ‘I got it late last year. I was accepted onto the list.’

Liam Patterson with his children Oisin 16 and Saoirse 12.

A whirlwind few days began. It was up to St Vincent’s for the operation. And then the recovery.

‘Recovery is tough. People are afraid to see you; my father couldn’t come to see me because he was afraid he’d give me an infection with my immune system so low.

‘I wouldn’t consider myself very religious but I went to mass whether in person or online as much as I could. I think whatever you can turn to, to find a way.

‘My family did so much. Friends helped bring me out to matches, they brought a folding chair so I could be there. For me, that meant so much.’

Man’s best friend, Basil the Jack Russell, played his part in the recovery. When Liam was strong enough to get back on his feet, and exercising, Basil was his training partner.

By May, Liam could feel the benefits. He was jogging in June. Through the summer he continued to recover. He was ready to go back teaching in August, with renewed vocation. ‘Teaching kids is wonderful. I get up and drive to work with a smile on my face.’

Liam had heard from one of the doctors in St Brigid’s about the Ireland transplant team, made up of players who have received all sorts of transplants, from liver to lung to heart. Some have faced their challenges since childhood, others more recent. Liam responded to encouragement from wife Annette to try answer the Ireland call.

Now Liam is one of five Corkmen in the Ireland transplant squad, with four hailing from West Cork.

There’s Mike Keohane from Rosscarbery; Patrick O’Driscoll from Ahiohill; Owen Crudge from Clonakilty, and Mike O’Shea from Mallow, and Liam making up the Cork crew.

‘There’s a great camaraderie with the Cork crew, and with the rest of the team. No one compares transplant because we’re all different, but we have all been through tough times.

The Ireland team that won a bronze medal in the British Transplant Games in July.

‘We have great craic. I’ve played on so many teams from Randal Óg all the way to being involved in coaching Limerick and Cork GAA development squads, and I can tell you this team has a special bond, and it goes beyond the players to the wives and families.’

During the summer, Ireland drew 3-3 with England in their last match, in Dublin. They train in Dublin, Portlaoise, and Kilkenny.

They got the chance to play before their home crowd on Saturday November 25th at Turners Cross, when the Ireland transplant team played an exhibition match against the Féileacáin Fathers. The Féileacáin Fathers are a support group of dads who have suffered the loss of a child. The Féileacáin Fathers came out on top at the Cross but that didn't take from a memorable day, where all the West Cork players were invovled, and Liam even got to have a run out with son Oisín.

The transplant team is still in its infancy but it is hoped they will be able to take part in the inaugural Transplant World Cup in 2024, which take place in Cesenatico in Italy. 'This tournament will reinforce our belief that "yes, recipients can achieve anything",' said Paul Harden World Transplant Games Federation.

Liam is grateful to so many people. To the donor, who gave him another chance at life, to whom he will be eternally grateful.

To his family, who have been through the tough times with him. ‘We went to Center Parcs recently, and the kids were ducking me and splashing. I think it was a chance to show them ‘dad’s back’.’

He’s grateful to his friends. They are all little things but like I said to people afterwards, they were little things to you but they meant an enormous amount for me.’

He’s grateful to the medics. ‘The staff in the St Brigid’s ward were so wonderful, every single one of them,’ said Liam. ‘It’s a real multicultural affair. When people talk about racism and “foreigners” in this country, they should have a look there and see the amazing job people from all backgrounds are doing,’ he said.

And the opportunity so few get, representing his country. ‘I hope the game in Turners Cross can show our gratitude for the gift of life which our donors gave us,’ Liam said.

‘The onus is on promoting organ donation and for people who may be awaiting transplant, who may be sick or afraid, I think the message we want to get across to people, who are awaiting transplant, is that there is hope. I’ve been there, it’s tough but things can get better. Things can turn. There’s light at the end of the tunnel.’