With Organ Donor Awareness Week in full swing, people all over Galway are being urged to carry an organ donor card and pledge to give the gift of life. Barna man Peter Gill knows just how important that gift is, after receiving a new heart just 12 months ago. Marie Madden reports.

IKA Vice Chairperson Mary Ryan with Peter and Ann Gill.

A year and a half ago, Peter Gill was being kept alive by a mechanical heart with fears for his future growing each day. Now 60 years of age, Peter is full of life and excitedly tells stories of his family and building a tree house in the back garden of his house, something he never thought would be possible.

The first indication that something was wrong with Peter's heart came back in 1997, when he began noticing flu-like symptoms. His GP referred him to University College Hospital where he was assessed by the cardiology unit and underwent treatment. The incident did not have a huge effect on Peter's day-to-day life and he continued his work as a deliveryman, carrying furniture to schools all over the country.

However in July 2006, almost ten years after his initial heart scare, Peter began to feel pains across his back and broke out in a cold sweat. Feeling quite dizzy, he lowered himself to the floor before falling unconscious. He later woke up in UHG, having been in a coma for a fortnight. He had suffered a severe heart attack and the prognosis was not good.

After four weeks in UHG, Peter was transferred to the Mater Hospital. His heart was in very bad shape and unable to keep him alive. The only option was a mechanical LVAD machine, which had been recently introduced to the hospital. The LVAD, or Left Ventricular Assist Device is a battery operated, mechanical pump device, which maintains the pump ability of a weakened heart that cannot operate on its own. It is often used as a bridge to transplant to buy time for an ill patient. The device was surgically placed in Peter's heart as soon as he was strong enough, while the search went on for a donor heart to save his life.

"The LVAD required major surgery, so they had to wait until I was strong enough to insert it. Wires came out under my ribs and were connected to what I can best describe as a bale of briquettes on a trolley! I had to pull that along with me whenever I was walking. I was in a very bad state when that went in. I was so weak that I couldn't eat and my hands were like needles. It was horrible. Once I had the LVAD in, I started taking a few steps every day and gradually built up. That machine definitely saved my life," he says.

However, the clock was still ticking for Peter. The LVAD machine could only be used for a limited period of time, as after a year it begins to be rejected by the body. After six weeks, he got a call saying they had possibly found him a new heart but it turned out not to be compatible. Two months later, Peter received another call and underwent preparation for surgery while a doctor went to collect his new organ. He was to be disappointed again, as doctors decided not to give the operation the go ahead.

"I had already been put under for the operation and when I was coming round, I thought I had died. It was all very bright and I thought I was in heaven. I remember thinking 'this doesn't look too bad, where's the tea?' When I realised that I was alive and still on the LVAD, I was disappointed. I thought that was the last chance I was going to get."