Dubliner Mick Murray, pictured in a Perth hspital on Monday with daughter Claire, is hoping to donate part of his liver to save her life.

Perth mother-of-two Claire Murray  will travel to Singapore with her Dubliner mum, Valerie for a potentially life-saving ‘live liver’ transplant.

The 24-year-old will die within months if she does not have the operation. However, she has been refused a place on the waiting list for a donor organ in her native Western Australia because she is a heroin addict. Claire was given a new liver last year but the organ failed after she succumbed to her addiction.

The Murray family has been given a $258,000 interest-free loan by the WA government to cover  the costs of the procedure, which comes with significant risks to both donor and recipient.

It’s understood that Channel Nine has negotiated an exclusive deal with the family for the Sixty Minutes current affairs show. As a result, the Murrays are restricted from speaking to other media.

“It’s our last chance,” Claire’s dad Mick Murray told the Irish Echo from Claire’s hospital ward before the Channel Nine deal was sealed. “Claire looks fine but her blood tests are telling a different story. She is deteriorating day by day.”

Mr Murray said he was prepared to offer his life for his daughter, who has two young children.

“I’m 55 years of age so I’ve lived a good full life. It’s for one of your kids. I never gave it a second thought,” he said.

However, it later emerged that Claire’s dad was an unsuitable donor. Claire’s mum Valerie did match as did her aunt who is also travelling to Singapore for the operation.

Claire’s plight has divided WA. Many callers to talkback radio and letter writers to local newspapers have supported the WA Department of Health decision not to offer Claire a second transplant.

Online polls were running three-to-one against Claire receiving any help from the WA government.

Mr Murray says prescription medication led to his daughter’s initial drug addiction.

“Claire was diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and she was prescribed dexamphetamines at a very young age,” he said.

“She was on these for a period of 12 to 18 months. We’re solidly convinced that that was the beginning of Claire’s drug addiction, because it spiralled downhill from there,” he told ABC Radio.

“Claire was on the methadone programme when she was admitted to hospital the first time for her failed liver.
“She had to go off that immediately for the liver transplant to happen.

“Ten days after the liver transplant Claire was (discharged) from hospital. People will argue that Claire did get support, and she did. She talked to drug and alcohol counsellors.

“They’ve written to me and I’ve got documentation to say that there was,” he said.

Mr Murray says his daughter “fell through the cracks”.

“I have asked the question was the ADHD responsible and if that was who was responsible for that? Was it the medical authorities, and if it is the medical authorities are they obliged to fix it, and did they fix it with the first transplant? Yes, they did and we’re very grateful for that.

“(But) should Claire have been put into a rehabilitation centre? Yes, she should. Did she still have an addiction? Yes, she had. Where can we go from there? We can ask them if, genuinely, after spending that time and money, do they believe that my daughter doesn’t need another chance,” he asked.

Mr Murray, who is from Balgriffin, is well-known to the Perth Irish community through his involvement with the Shamrock Rovers soccer club and played for them in the ’80s and early ’90s.

by Pádraig Collins and Billy Cantwell