Cystic Fibrosis Ireland (CFI) has payed tribute to Donegal man, Brendan McLaughlin, who died this week. Mr McLaughlin was the longest surviving cystic fibrosis (CF) single lung transplant recipient in the world.

He was also the first person with CF living in Ireland to receive a single lung transplant. The operation took place in August 1992 at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle in the UK, as the lung transplant programme in Ireland had not yet commenced.

Mr McLaughlin was 51 when he died in Dublin's Mater Hospital on February 25, 2019. He lived for 26 years post-transplant, making him the longest surviving CF transplant recipient in Ireland and the longest surviving CF single lung transplant recipient in the world.

CF is Ireland's most common life-threatening inherited disease. There are around 1,200 people in Ireland with CF and this country has the highest prevalence and the most severe types of CF in the world.

CF affects the regulation of absorption and secretion of salt and water in various parts of the body including the lungs, pancreas and gastrointestinal tracts. This defect inhibits the flow of salt and water through the body's cells, causing a build-up of thick, sticky mucus, which can clog airways and harbour harmful bacteria

Symptoms reported by people vary significantly in severity from mild to debilitating. The most common symptom is recurrent chest infections, which result in lung damage.

According to CFI chief executive, Philip Watt, Mr McLaughlin ‘was a campaigner all of his life'.

"He was very proud of being from Donegal and he was the leading light in the CFI Donegal branch for many years. Brendan was a lifelong campaigner on CF and organ donation, and a strong supporter of Letterkenny General Hospital," Mr Watt explained.

He noted that Mr McLaughlin had campaigned for better CF services and the need for improved transplant services in his native Donegal and at a national level.

"Brendan became a regular contributor to Highland Radio on everything from social welfare cutbacks to organ donation. We, at CFI, wish to extend our sincere sympathy to his family and wide circle of friends," Mr Watt said.

*Pictured in 2017 is Philip Watt, CFI chief executive, making a presentation to Brendan McLaughlin, marking the 25th anniversary of his transplant at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle in 1992