Smiling Archie highlights the importance of organ donation

A nine-month-old Cavan baby, who has overcome meningitis and sepsis and had one of his kidneys removed, has become one of the faces of Organ Donation Week 2025.

Baby Archie was born five weeks early weighing just five pounds 10 ounces to Shanice Murphy from Co Kildare and Cormac Wall from Cavan Town. Archie’s grandparents are Miranda and Mick ‘Bricker’ Wall who ran in the last local elections for Sinn Féin.

Archie spent a week in the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) at Cavan General Hospital, but things worsened because something was making the infant constantly cry and he vomited after every feed.

“Even as a new mum, I knew something was wrong,” Shanice says looking back.

Cormac and Shanice brought Archie to A&E at Cavan General Hospital several times until he was diagnosed with Congenital Nephrotic Syndrome after which he spent seven months in CHI Temple Street Hospital.

Little Archie had one of his kidneys removed on World Kidney Day, March 13 last, and was finally discharged from hospital on the same weekend as Shanice’s birthday and Mothers’ Day.

Today, he is a smiling, busy boy who is gaining weight and meeting the same milestones as many babies his age.

Though doctors initially anticipated both kidneys would be removed before his first birthday, they are now holding off on the second, hopeful that Archie can avoid dialysis until he is around two. A transplant will be necessary, however, likely between the ages of five and six when he reaches a certain weight and height.

Shanice is a young mother whose family has been on a tough learning journey and now this Organ Donor Awareness Week, which runs until May 17, she wants to impart some of what she learned to others.

When Archie was very sick in his first weeks the only time he would stop crying was when he was lying skin to skin on either his Mam or Dad’s chest.

“We think he settled for a time then because an infant like Archie who has kidney problems could not regulate his own body temperature and we think he got some much-needed heat from us,” Shanice recalls.

“Although Archie’s grandparents may be a perfect match for a kidney, doctors say we need a donation from a person under the age of 30 because it would be transplanted into a young patient who needs it for the rest of his life,” 24-year-old Shanice explains.

“Cormac will be in his 30s by the time Archie will be the right age for transplantation but there is no point in any of us being tested at this stage anyway because a match depends on not the donor’s blood type or family genes but on their antibodies and everyone’s antibodies could change between now and when Archie is five years old.

“When I was in Temple Street, I suddenly realised that I am not a donor,” she told the Celt. “Of course I see now why it is so important, and I want to urge people to get themselves on the register.

“My message to everyone is: remember you could save someone’s life.”

Shanice also wanted to use her voice to advise all mothers to “trust your own instinct”.

“I don’t care if you’re a young mum like me, the mother of a premature baby, mother-of-five, someone whose just had a baby by Caesarean or by normal delivery, you have a mother’s instinct, and I want women to trust that when it comes to their baby’s health and wellbeing.

“At first, I didn’t want to keep going back to Cavan General when Archie had severe diarrhoea and he was projectile vomiting from his nose but when I saw a lump had developed in his stomach after five weeks of crying and weight loss, I am so glad that I insisted in the A&E at Cavan General Hospital that something was seriously wrong with my child and insisted that my concerns were taken seriously.”

Now, Shanice and Cormac just hope their son will remain healthy as he continues to develop and meet milestones, like attending nursery and school until the time comes for his transplant.

“We are just trying to live a normal life with a very sick baby,” Shanice says.

The Organ Donor Awareness Week 2025 (May 10–17) campaign highlights a powerful national call to action ‘Don’t Leave Your Loved Ones in Doubt’.

Organised by the Irish Kidney Association (IKA) with support from the HSE’s Organ Donation Transplant Ireland (ODTI) office, the campaign shines a spotlight on the life-changing impact of organ donation for transplantation and the role that families play in ensuring that your wishes are carried out.