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Buncrana heart transplant woman to
marry
24.04.08
by Simon McGeady, Inishowen Independent
WEDDING bells will ring out at Cockhill Church on
the last Friday in May when Buncrana heart
transplant survivor Donna Porter ties the knot with
her fiancé, Darren.
They couple met on the June Bank Holiday weekend in
2005 and he proposed to her at the Mater hospital a
week after her heart operation, the week before
Valentines Day.
Donna, who appealed for Inishowen Independent
readers to carry an organ donor card, took sick on
Christmas Eve 2005 and was admitted to the Mater
Hospital in Dublin during the first week of January
2006 after a serious problem with her heart was
diagnosed. |
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Her heart transplant
operation took place at the end of that month.
Speaking last week Donna said she can hardly wait to
get married.
“There’s six weeks to the wedding go and I’m feeling
great. Most of the [preparations] are done, there’s
just the invites to send |
out,” she said.
The ceremony will be performed by Fr McGuinness,
with Strand Hotel hosting the reception later that
evening.
“We set the date as close as possible to the third
anniversary of when we first met,” said Ms Porter,
who works two days a week in Callaghan’s jewellers
in Buncrana, the place she worked prior to her
transplant and to where she returned to work last
August.
Donna’s four and a half year old son Mark will bring
the wedding rings to the altar.
She still attends the Mater Hospital once a month
for a check up. Her blood pressure is expected to be
high around the time of the wedding, but it’s
nothing for her to worry about.
The couple have yet to decide where they are going
on their honeymoon.
“We talked about Greece, but with my condition I
have to stay out of the hot sun, which is a shame,
because I love the hot weather.”
Last summer Darren, who is a builder, and Donna have
moved into a council house in Cockhill, from their
previous residence in Burwood, Buncrana.
“Getting ready for a wedding you go from doing lots
of things at the one time to doing nothing for a
while, but most of the work is done now.” |
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