Joe Brolly appeals for more organ donations at funeral of Sligo man

Campaigner Joe Brolly appealed yesterday for more organ donations while he was at the funeral of a young man who featured in his television documentary Perfect Match last year.

Gary Dillon, (28), died at St Vincent's Hospital, Dublin last Friday and was buried in Sligo yesterday. A popular member of Calry/St Joseph's GAA club in Sligo, he was a keen supporter of the organ donation campaign by Mr Brolly, the GAA commentator and former Derry footballer.

Sadly, Mr Dillon never had the chance to benefit from the double lung-transplant he so badly needed.

Cystic fibrosis
Mr Brolly, who attended the funeral Mass in St Joseph's Church, Ballytivnan, Sligo paid tribute to Mr Dillon, who had helped raise the profile of cystic fibrosis sufferers throughout Ireland.

“If we had a proper organ donation system in place in time Gary would have had a very good chance of getting the lungs he needed,” said Mr Brolly.

"The system in Ireland in the past year has improved to a great extent. We are now number three in Europe in lung transplantation, when not so long ago we were at the bottom of the list.

“Sadly, Gary became too ill lately to be admitted on to the transplant list. When he did have opportunities to get on the list it was at a time when the rate of organ donation was much lower, particularly for double lung transplants.”

Hope
Mr Brolly added that the message should go out for people to think about organ donation after death to give others hope of living.

“Thanks to Gary’s input and support for the campaign, the situation for people currently awaiting surgery is improving all the time.

“There is great hope for the future, but sadly it was too late for Gary. He was a real fighter, a charismatic young man who never allowed himself to get down about his situation.

“He was indefatigable and would accompany me to promotional events with a cylinder of oxygen on his back without one word of complaint.”