Organ donation: DUP accused of denying hope to transplant patients

Dr Catherine McCarroll - pictured with her husband and their daughter Eve - had a double lung transplant in 2021

A woman who received a double lung transplant has accused the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of "denying hope" to those awaiting a transplant for the sake of its "party politics".

It comes after the party blocked the return of the Stormont assembly to approve a new organ donation law.

Catherine McCarroll said the wait on the transplant list was "agonising".

The DUP said it was working at Westminster to ensure the legislation is put in place for this spring.

The new law would mean all adults in Northern Ireland would be considered a potential organ donor after their death, unless they specifically stated otherwise.

It is named Dáithí's Law after Dáithí Mac Gabhann, a six-year-old boy who needs a heart transplant and whose campaign has inspired the legislative change.

Dr Catherine McCarroll says being on the transplant list feels like a "death sentence"

The Stormont assembly met on Tuesday in a bid to pass Dáithí's Law but that did not happen because a Speaker was not elected to allow legislative work to go ahead.

The DUP had already said it would block the election of a Speaker as part of its ongoing protest against post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland.

On Thursday MPs from the DUP, the SDLP and the Alliance Party tabled an amendment at Westminster in a bid to progress the opt-out organ donation law through Parliament instead.

'Every day a struggle'

Dr McCarroll was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis in 2018 and she was placed on the transplant register after becoming critically ill in 2021.

Speaking to BBC News NI, she described it as an "agonising wait for everyone involved."

"It's exhausting mentally and physically - when you are put on a transplant list it really is a death sentence until you get that call about an organ," said Dr McCarroll.

The 31-year-old said that "every day is a struggle" for families who were awaiting that phone call.

Dr McCarroll said it was not until people were in that position that they could really know what it was like and that was why the DUP should not "play politics with people's lives".

She said she was speaking out to try to educate people about organ donation but also to appeal to the DUP to go back to the assembly to push Dáithí's Law through its final stage.

"I just think its ridiculous - [organ donation] is not a political issue and the DUP are just using this for their party politics," she said.

What is Dáithí's Law?

Named after six-year-old Dáithí Mac Gabhann, who is waiting for a heart transplant, it will give Northern Ireland an opt-out system for organ donation.

That means that people will automatically become a potential organ donor unless they explicitly state otherwise.

Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that does not have an opt-out system.

Read more: What is Dáithí's Law and why has it been delayed?

The DUP "made the wrong choice" by refusing to support a Speaker on Tuesday, she added.

She said it was a "no brainer" that Dáithí's Law should be passed for the "good of the population".

"Of course it's not going to change everything overnight but it is a positive step for those people waiting for transplants," she said.

'Politicians don't know what it's like'

Months after giving birth to her daughter Eve in March 2021, Dr McCarroll said her health went downhill and her breathing became much more difficult.

"I ended up on oxygen 24/7 - just before my transplant I was completely bed-bound," she said.

In January 2022 she was flown to the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle in England, where she was on a life support machine before having surgery and a double lung transplant.

She returned home to Belfast in March 2022 having spent a traumatic two months away from her daughter and her husband.

She is due to return to work in the medical profession in the next few weeks.

Dr McCarroll said that a majority of politicians had no idea what the wait for a transplant was like.

"Every day is a fight for your life," she said.

Dr Catherine McCarroll wants the DUP to end its block on electing a Speaker at Stormont

BBC News NI asked the DUP to respond to Dr McCarroll's comments.

The party said: "We are working in the House of Commons to ensure the organ donor legislation is put in place for spring 2023 as originally planned.

"If the [Northern Ireland] Protocol had been replaced with arrangements that unionists could support 18 months ago then devolution would be functioning.

"Parliament is sovereign and the government must ensure the presumed consent legislation is put in place."

Westminster bid for Dáithí's Law

With Dáithí's Law having been prevented from proceeding at Stormont, the DUP, the SDLP and the Alliance Party are trying to push it through Westminster instead.

The DUP amendment - co-signed by the other parties - aims to change the Executive Formation Bill, a piece of legislation being moved by the UK government, which would delay the requirement for another assembly election if a Stormont executive cannot be formed.

The bill is due to be debated by MPs on Wednesday and the parties hope they will also consider the amendment on Daithi's Law.

However it is far from certain that it will be accepted by the Commons Speaker's office.

Northern Ireland political parties and the Mac Gabhann family have urged the government to allow it to pass due to the ongoing absence of devolved government at Stormont.

If the amendment is not successful on Wednesday it is not clear which other avenues will be possible to progress the organ donation legislation.