DUBLIN — Frank Deasy made his living as the Emmy-winning author of gritty television dramas such as “Prime Suspect.” But with his final acts and words, the Dubliner inspired a nation to become organ donors — and may have saved scores of lives even as he lost his own.
More than 20,000 people have registered to become donors after Deasy’s hour-long appeal last week on Irish national radio, during which he described the “invisible death row” of thousands awaiting salvation through surgery in Ireland and neighboring Britain.
Health officials say the unprecedented sign- up could mean an extra 15 people a year in Ireland get a second chance at life.
“There’s a ticking clock. If the tumor grows beyond a certain size, they can’t transplant,” Deasy said in his Sept. 14 interview.
Time ran out three days later for Deasy, 49 — he bled to death as doctors tried to replace his tumor-riddled liver. Deasy had spent seven months waiting for an organ suited to his unusual B blood type.
