Image source, Catherine McCarroll

A woman who received a double lung transplant has accused the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of "denying hope" to those awaiting a transplant for the sake of "party politics".

It comes after the party blocked the return of the Stormont assembly to approve a new organ donation law.

Catherine McCarroll said being on the transplant list was a "death sentence".

The DUP said it was working at Westminster to ensure the legislation is put in place for this spring.

The new law would mean all adults in Northern Ireland would be considered a potential organ donor after their death, unless they specifically stated otherwise.

It is named Dáithí's Law after Dáithí Mac Gabhann, a six-year-old boy who needs a heart transplant and whose campaign has inspired the legislative change.

Image source, Catherine McCarroll

The Stormont assembly met on Tuesday in a bid to pass Dáithí's Law but that did not happen because a Speaker was not elected to allow legislative work to go ahead.

The DUP had already said it would block the election of a Speaker as part of its ongoing protest over the Northern Ireland Protocol.

'Every day a struggle'

Dr McCarroll was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis in 2018 and after becoming critically ill in 2021 she was placed on the transplant register.

Speaking to BBC News NI, she described it as an "agonising wait for everyone involved."

"It's exhausting mentally and physically - when you are put on a transplant list it really is a death sentence until you get that call about an organ," said Dr McCarroll.

The 31-year-old said that "every day is a struggle" for families who were awaiting that phone call.

Dr McCarroll said it was not until people were in that position that they could really know what it was like and that was why the DUP should not "play politics with people's lives".

Image source, PA Media

She said she was speaking out to try to educate people about organ donation but also to appeal to the DUP to go back to the assembly.

"I just think its ridiculous, it is not a political issue and the DUP are just using this for their party politics," she said.

The DUP "made the wrong choice" by refusing to support a Speaker on Tuesday, she added.

She said it was a "no brainer" that Dáithí's Law should be passed for the "good of the population".

"Of course it's not going to change everything overnight but it is a positive step for those people waiting for transplants," she said.

'Politicians don't know what it's like'

Months after giving birth to her daughter Eve in March 2021, Dr McCarroll said her health went downhill and her breathing became much more difficult.

"I ended up on oxygen 24/7 - just before my transplant I was completely bed-bound," she said.

In January 2022 she was flown to the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle in England, where she was on a life support machine before having surgery and a double lung transplant.

She returned home to Belfast in March 2022 having spent a traumatic two months away from her daughter and husband.

She is due to return to work in the next few weeks.

Dr McCarroll said that a majority of politicians had no idea what the wait for a transplant was like.

"Every day is a fight for your life," she said.

BBC News NI asked the DUP to respond to Dr McCarroll's comments.

The party said: "We are working in the House of Commons to ensure the organ donor legislation is put in place for spring 2023 as originally planned.

"If the [Northern Ireland] Protocol had been replaced with arrangements that unionists could support 18 months ago then devolution would be functioning.

"Parliament is sovereign and the government must ensure the presumed consent legislation is put in place."

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