{"id":1169321,"date":"2026-08-25T22:57:39","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T22:57:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1169321\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T22:57:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T22:57:39","slug":"its-unbelievable-to-have-daithi-back-in-ballymurphy-a-new-life-awaits-belfast-boy-who-changed-northern-irelands-organ-donation-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1169321\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s unbelievable to have D\u00e1ith\u00ed back in Ballymurphy\u2019 \u2013 A new life awaits Belfast boy who changed Northern Ireland\u2019s organ donation law"},"content":{"rendered":"

A nine-year-old boy playing football in his front garden on a cloudy Tuesday afternoon is a far from peculiar sight as the summer holidays draw to a close \u2013 but for D\u00e1ith\u00ed Mac Gabhann<\/a> and his family this everyday normality marks the end to an almost eight-year journey. <\/p>\n

In July, the young west Belfast boy underwent heart transplant surgery in the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, England<\/a>, after being on the waiting list since 2018.<\/p>\n

On Monday he returned home to a hero\u2019s welcome after spending weeks recovering.<\/p>\n

Read more: <\/b>Belfast schoolboy D\u00e1ith\u00ed Mac Gabhann receives heart transplant after almost eight-year wait<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Sinn<\/a>\"Sinn<\/a><\/p>\n

Born with a rare condition \u2013 hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) \u2013 his family campaigned for years to introduce a soft opt-out law for organ donation in the north, known as D\u00e1ith\u00ed\u2019s Law, which came into effect in 2023. <\/p>\n

\"DáithíD\u00e1ith\u00ed Mac Gabhann waited eight years for a new heart PICTURE: COLM LENAGHAN <\/p>\n

Now back home following his transplant, he will remain in isolation until October, when he will be able to return to school and a new, full life thanks to his new heart. <\/p>\n

When asked alongside his dad M\u00e1irt\u00edn Mac Gabhann what he was most looking forward to now that he has had his transplant, the nine-year-old replied: \u201cI\u2019m really looking forward to go on my bike.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking to The Irish News, Mr Mac Gabhann said that it was \u201cunbelievable\u201d to have his son back home.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven thinking of D\u00e1ith\u00ed getting the gift of a new heart was beyond our wildest dreams, but to get him now home to Ballymurphy, to continue his journey, that\u2019s a sign that he\u2019s doing well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI suppose as a parent, that\u2019s what I\u2019m most looking forward to, D\u00e1ith\u00ed being able to do the normal things that kids his age do \u2013 play on the street with his friends, walk to the corner shop, play football, probably join a sports team if he can.<\/p>\n

\"DáithíD\u00e1ith\u00ed Mac Gabhann with his father M\u00e1irt\u00edn, who said he is excited for his son to be able to do things like other kids his age
\nPICTURE: COLM LENAGHAN <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd just not get out of breath after walking maybe 20 metres, go swimming with school, or playing in the yard. D\u00e1ith\u00ed was never allowed to be in the yard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back alongside his three younger brothers, Mr Mac Gabhann said that the \u201cchaos\u201d of them at home again was \u201can absolute blessing and a privilege\u201d.<\/p>\n

With just six weeks until D\u00e1ith\u00ed is fully able to return to normal life, Mr Mac Gabhann said that his \u201cwonderful neighbours who are already planning a big street party for him\u201d. <\/p>\n

He said he was grateful for the support of both the local and wider community in getting to this point – especially the donor family.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very grateful to the donor family and the donor because they\u2019ve saved D\u00e1ith\u00ed\u2019s life,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know who they are, we may never know who they are, but what we\u2019re certain of is that we\u2019re very grateful and it\u2019s very difficult to find the words. <\/p>\n

\u201cAll we have is thank you and hope that D\u00e1ith\u00ed just lives his absolute best life now as thank you to his donor and their family.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A nine-year-old boy playing football in his front garden on a cloudy Tuesday afternoon is a far from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1169322,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5011],"tags":[2378,23523,301,211,1144,55686,16,15,94156],"class_list":["post-1169321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-northern-ireland","tag-belfast","tag-health-and-social-care","tag-heart","tag-nhs","tag-northern-ireland","tag-transplant","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-west-belfast"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117158628212223141","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1169321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1169321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1169321\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1169322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1169321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1169321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1169321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}