Leixlip Woman To Run Dublin Marathon In Honour Of Daughter Whose Organs Saved Another Life

Wednesday, 23 October 2024 12:09

By Hannah Kelly

Olivia Farrell at this year's annual Service of Remembrance and Thanksgiving. Image courtesy of The Irish Independent. Photo: Photo: Conor McCabe Photography

Olivia Farrell is running this year's marathon to honour her daughter Lauren, who passed away at the age of 24

A Leixlip woman is running in this year's Dublin Marathon in honour of her late daughter, whose organs saved another life.

Olivia Farrell's daughter, Lauren, suddenly passed away of a heart attack in 2022 at just 24-years-old.

Unbeknownst to her, Lauren had clots in her legs, and after driving herself to the A&E in Connolly Memorial Hospital in Blanchardstown, unfortunately suffered a fatal heart attack in her car.

Speaking on this morning's Kildare Today programme, Olivia described her daughter as "a beautiful child, very bubbly, loved everybody and everybody loved her".

Olivia was not aware that Lauren had agreed to become an organ donor, and did not find out until asked about the organ retrieval.

When asked, Olivia and Lauren's father agreed immediately to donating her organs, and it was not until when Olivia was going through her daughter's belongings that she found Lauren's organ donor card in her wallet.

"It really made me feel that we did...we made the right choice for Lauren, and it was Lauren's wish", said Olivia.

Lauren's liver and heart valves were donated, and her liver saved another man's life.

Now, Olivia is looking ahead to this year's Dublin Marathon, which takes place this Sunday, October 27th.

Olivia was encouraged by her sister and brother-in-law to get running, as they were training for the marathon.

Olivia started training in April and joined a group of ladies that go out twice a week, which gave her the confidence to run on the road.

This ultimately led Olivia to make the decision to run the marathon for herself and for Lauren.

Olivia is also running in aid of the Irish Kidney Association, a charity that serves patients in organ failure for over 45 years.

A GoFundMe has been set up by Olivia to raise funds.

Two weeks ago, Olivia took part in the annual Service of Remembrance and Thanksgiving, organised by the Irish Kidney Association for families of organ donors and grateful organ recipients to honour organ donors, such as Lauren.

Next year will be the 40th annual service by the charity.

You can listen to the full interview with Olivia Farrell here: