WELL-KNOWN CYSTIC Fibrosis campaigner Orla Tinsley is recovering in a US hospital following a double lung transplant.
Tinsley (30) had been on a waiting list for a lung transplant for some time, and had been called six times previously about potential transplants. This was her seventh call.
She had spent the last number of days on life support in a New York hospital, where the transplant took place.
Tweeting earlier today, she said:
Following the surgery, a message posted on her Facebook account gave an update on her condition, stating that she was in recovery.
“She will be going through a lot in the next few days so please keep her in your minds. We are not out of the woods yet but the trees are beginning to thin. Thanks for all your support and well wishes,” continued the message.
The journalist and Cystic Fibrosis activist has long campaigned for more awareness about the condition which affects the lungs and digestive system.
She has been on the waiting list for a double lung transplant since she suffered respiratory failure last year.
Yesterday, Tinsley made a public appeal, urging people to carry a donor card.
Well wishes from Irish writers, politicians, journalists and activists have been flooding in for Tinsley since her operation.
Tinsley’s friends have set up a GoFundMe page to cover her medical expenses following a successful surgery.
According to the page which has now raised nearly €80,000. The page states that while Tinsley’s health insurance will cover the transplant, there are aspects of care and recovery (including mediation, transport, oxygen and much more) which are not covered by insurance.
For the first year after a transplant, a patient remains at high risk for rejection, and there are many costs associated with monitoring and guarding against this, as well as with recuperation in other ways. After-care is crucial, and it’s expensive. That’s where we can help.
Donations can be made to the Orla Tinsley transplant fund here.
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