The Inspiration

We are the Curran Family from Warrenpoint, County Down, Ireland.

My name is Adrian. My wife is called Donna. We have a beautiful daughter called Shannon.

This blog is inspired by her.

She underwent a heart transplant at 13 weeks old. The youngest ever in the North of Ireland.

The purpose of the blog is to share her story with the world.

The prospect of becoming parents was one we were both looking forward to . The challenge of looking after a new baby was daunting but one we were prepared and ready to take on.

We never anticipated that the challenge we were about to face with the arrival of Shannon was to be the most harrowing and life changing experience we had ever faced.

Shannon is now 15 months old and is thriving. We look at each day and while we are overjoyed at being given the chance to share all this precious time with our little girl. We are eternally grateful and inspired by the courage of the parents who made the decision, in the face of such sorrow in their own lifes, to donate their child's heart to allow ours to live.

Hopefully, this story will inspire everybody out there to really live each and every moment.

Ensure that all your loved ones are cherished and try and not let the trivial things in life get a hold on you and distract you from what really is important!!!

The following link is to the BBC news website. We went public with Shannon's story for a number of reasons. First of all, we are extremely proud of her and all that she had to go through.
Secondly, we wanted to thank the hosiptal staff for all they done for her and us.

However, most importantly, we wanted to raise awareness of the issue of organ donation and to express our deep admiration for the family, in their time of sorrow, who made the decision to give of child her gift of life.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/6035347.stm