A Poway couple, who found love later in life, are now facing the most difficult challenge to their “in sickness and in health” vows.
He needs a kidney. She turns out to be an extraordinary match. It is a story of both commitment and sacrifice.
Jim Irish says his wife is one in a million.
“When I met Mirna, I just knew,” Jim Irish said.
What he couldn’t have known almost 10 years ago when they married is that she is a compatible kidney donor. The odds are one in 100,000.
“That’s my sign right there that I am here to help him,” Mirna Irish said.
“I said the odds are so crazy. I love you so much for even suggesting it,“ Jim Irish said.
Jim Irish was a committed bachelor. He spent the first 50 years of his life collecting pattens for his inventions. One of them is the Vin scanner. He created and sold a number of Fortune 500 companies and was among San Diego’s Technology Fast 50.
Mirna Irish was a schoolteacher in Tijuana, raising three children on her own. Her son is a paraplegic.
An online dating site matched the two of them.
“We were going to go for a drink, and I met her and I went, ‘Wow,'” Jim Irish said.
“That was the best night ever,” Mirna Irish said.
It was the date that never ended.
The clock is ticking. Surgery is scheduled for Aug. 8 at Sharp Memorial Hospital. While Jim and Mirna Irish expect a certain degree of difficulty in recovery, the challenges leading up to this may seem far worse.
The journey started more than two years ago.
“He said, ‘I don’t know what am I going to do. What’s going to happen?’ I said, ‘I can give you my kidney,’” Mirna Irish said.
In the discovery of Jim Irish needing a transplant and Mirna Irish being a match, doctors first found a growth on his left kidney. It was destroyed, then came the removal of his lower colon, hemoglobin shots and intravenous infusions. After that, a cancerous tumor was found on his right kidney.
“Lots of things go wrong with the body when your kidneys don’t function properly,” Jim Irish said.
Mirna Irish was found to have inactive tuberculosis, traced to a childhood vaccination.
“I was so worried. I thought, ‘What if I can’t? What if I want to, and I can’t?'” Mirna Irish said.
That was followed by six months of treatment for her. Jim Irish had another surgery, and as of two weeks ago, he is cancer free.
“It’s very emotional. It was a lot of hurdles that were just organic,“ Jim Irish said.
Since Jim Irish’s kidneys still function at about 10%, Mirna Irish’s donation will be an addition instead of a replacement.
“There is a lot behind it. Emotionally, she stepped up. She stepped up and saved my life,” Jim Irish said.
Sharp Hospital says its transplant patient survival rate after a year is nearly 100%. Beyond that, Jim Irish can have a good chance at a normal life expectancy.
“I just want to travel and love my wife as much as I can,” Jim Irish said.
“He’s the love of my life. He’s more than I prayed for,” Mirna Irish said.
After a pre-operation consultation just Wednesday, Jim Irish and his wife are in good physical condition and good spirits. Surgeons are giving the procedure a green light.