'We're both happy and healthy': Couple tie the knot after garda donates kidney to wife
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A couple from the Midlands exchanged weddings vows over the August bank holiday weekend after the groom, garda Shane Hunter, donated a kidney to his wife, art teacher Briona Reynolds.
Shane, 31, from Athlone, and Briona, 30, from Tubber in Co. Offaly, postponed their wedding last year due to Covid restrictions, and the impact of Briona's health struggles, which saw her having to get dialysis three times a week.
Briona underwent a kidney transplant on June 22 in 2020 after her husband made the decision to donate his kidney to her and she said the operation has changed their life for the better.
"Sometimes we forget the struggles we experienced. We still talk about how things were back then but it’s always followed by how grateful we are for how much better things are now," she said.
Life after the transplant is "much more relaxed" for Shane and Briona, as the couple are now renovating their house, planning trips away, and doing many things that they found difficult previously.
A week before the operation took place, Briona completed her thesis for an MA in education, allowing her to fulfil her ambition of becoming a secondary school art teacher.
It was the couple's third time attempting to go ahead with the procedure. The first operation date, which was meant to go ahead in February, was cancelled due to safety concerns when Shane's blood results showed irregularities.
By that time, Briona's kidney function had almost fully declined, and her doctors had to start her on haemodialysis treatment to keep her alive.
The second date in March was cancelled when the country went into lockdown.
After taking time to fully recover from the transplant operation in June, both Shane and Briona are back to work. Briona is now teaching at Mullingar Community College, and Shane is back working in Tullamore Garda Station.
He says that after everything the couple has been through, their recent wedding was the perfect opportunity to celebrate with family and friends.
“We had a great wedding. It is so rewarding and gives me great joy to see Briona so well and that we are both happy and healthy and can look forward to what the future will bring," he said.
"We had a wonderful wedding weekend and it was great to be surrounded by all the people we love. Everything has been going so well for us over the last two years," Briona added.
The Midlands couple are choosing to share their stories to support the work of the Irish Kidney Association ahead of the European Day for Organ Donation & Transplantation on October 10.