A 24-year-old man who was taken to London in a Government jet on Thursday to undergo an emergency heart-and-lung transplant is "stable and doing well", hospital officials said last night.
Mr Dermot Fenton, from Doon, Glenville, Co Cork, was taken to Harefield Hospital in west London. It had been decided that the quickest way to get him there was to divert the Government jet, which was on its way to Brussels with the Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Mr Tom Kitt, to Cork and on to Heathrow Airport.
Mr Fenton, who has cystic fibrosis, was operated on by the transplant surgeon, Sir Magdi Yacoub. The operation lasted 10 hours.
A spokeswoman for the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust said the transplant was successful and Mr Fenton was in a stable condition. "He only came out of theatre a few hours ago so it is early days yet, but his mother is with him."
Last night Mr Fenton was joined by his father, David, a farmer. The flight came shortly after Mr Fenton had returned to Ireland from his annual assessment at the hospital.
Mr Fenton's health had been deteriorating for some time, and doctors in London had advised him that without a transplant he stood little chance of survival.