Athlone Dad faces fight for survival

By Rebekah O'Reilly

A fundraising appeal has been launched in an effort to help a Monksland man access vital surgery after a devastating prognosis gave him a life expectancy of just five years.

Gavin Cooper (47), began battling a condition called sarcoidosis in 2016, but his condition has deteriorated in recent years.

The local father-of-three is now fundraising towards the cost of his medical expenses, explaining that he has been forced to seek life-saving surgery abroad.

"He was given the life expectancy of five years. He's [being treated] in St Vincent's Hospital, and they have done their best, but his condition is just too complicated," said Gavin's daughter Jessica.

Speaking to the Westmeath Independent about how her father's disease presented itself, Jessica said: "He kept having pains and fatigue – flu-like symptoms.

"In 2016, he got diagnosed with sarcoidosis which is overgrowth of cells in the lymph nodes, which was being treated with steroids. It went away for a few years, but he started having pain in his stomach again in 2021."

When Gavin went back to the hospital in 2021, it was discovered that he had a rare 7cm tumour in his liver which was wrapped around his portal vein. The tumour is causing portal hypertension, ascites, gallbladder issues, enlarged spleen and a swollen vascular system.

However, due to Gavin's sarcoidosis, surgery couldn't be carried out to remove his gallbladder, or the tumour.

"Due to the pressure on the veins, they couldn't remove them. The veins are all inflamed," said Jessica.

"He's so swollen due to the pressure. He needed 12 litres of fluid drained this year, and he now has to have his stents changed every six weeks,” said Jessica.

His wife Eileen, daughters Jessica and Rachel, and son Jayden, have all felt the effects of Gavin's health battle.

In January, Gavin was forced to step away from his retail manager job with M&S in Athlone after 17 years, and Eileen is now working two jobs to make up for the loss of income.

Speaking about his health journey, Gavin said: "I'm constantly in and out of hospital with infections, I have two stents in my biliary tract due to narrowing from scarring, I'm now on stent number 16. Due to infections, they don't last as long as they should.

"It's not known how to shrink this growth to take pressure off my vascular system to a point where it becomes a viable option to operate and give me the life-saving treatment I need."

Discussing the challenges of her father's condition, Jessica said: "The way it works now is he has his stent changed every six weeks, or whenever he has an infection. He needs biliary and portal vein reconstruction.

"He needs a liver transplant – but his body has created new veins around the pressure area [on his portal vein] so there's no specialist in Ireland willing to take the risk.

"He's on water tablets to drain the fluid – and it's causing his kidneys to fail because they're so dehydrated. Every fix causes a new problem, it's a vicious cycle.

"We try to have hope. It's difficult – but you learn to adjust. We remain positive on the outside, but on the inside it is difficult.

"[Gavin and his wife Eileen] have put their lives on hold over the last five years. He was active – he used to swim – he loves that stuff. He was always the life of the party. Now he's always tired, he has no energy," Jessica said.

Gavin Cooper's GoFundMe page entitled, 'Help Me Get a Life-Saving Liver Transplant' was set up on September 8, and at the time of writing a sum of €10,415 had been raised toward the €150,000 fundraising goal.

The family noted that they considered the Mayo Clinic in the USA as an option, however with costs coming to over €500,000, they are now looking elsewhere for treatment options.

Jessica said: "He never wants to look for help – but we've run out of options.

"(His consultant in St Vincent's) has written a letter to the UK, so we're hoping that's a possibility. Mam has been told of a doctor in France, and there's one in Belgium. We're just hoping for one person to come along, and be the right person."

Talking about the outpouring of support from their local community in Athlone, Jessica added: "It's been absolutely unbelievable.

"My Dad's not a crier – but I've never seen him cry as much. The kindness of strangers is unbelievable."

You can support Gavin in his health journey here: www.gofundme.com/f/5-years-to-save-my-life.