Memories of Donal Joseph O'Donoghue | Ever Loved

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In memory of

Donal Joseph O'Donoghue

Manchester, UK

August 15, 1956 - January 3, 2021

Aug 15, 1956 - Jan 3, 2021

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Sam Ogden

I had the pleasure of working with Donal over many years when I was part of the Roche Renal team. He was such a figurehead in the renal world and a fun person to be around - an ability to work and play hard in equal measure. Congresses were the best when Donal was on the case! So shocked to have heard the news, much love to Marie and the family, he talked of you all the time.

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Kathryn Mills-Webb

Alice Smith

1993, New York, NY, USA

Donal in New York, 1993

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Kathryn Mills-Webb

Comments:

Alice Smith

I have known Donal for nearly 30 years and I am so, so sad that we have lost him. Donal and Liam Plant made a deep impression on me at my first conference social events - he really knew how to enjoy them to the full but somehow managed to turn up the next morning apparently none the worse for wear. In those days, girls were a rare novelty in the Renal Association, especially girls who weren't even doctors, but Donal was always kind, inclusive and a real gentleman. I particularly cherish the memory of myself and Lorna Layward being whisked away by Donal, Phil Kalra and Grahame Wood for an extraordinary impromptu few days in New York after the 1993 ASN in Boston. Throughout the years Donal has been hugely supportive to my career development, always taking me seriously, encouraging me and being so generous with his time and wisdom.  He was my go-to sounding board and I will so miss the messages he used to send me from time to time, noticing things I had done, useful or interesting suggestions, little jokes ..... The kidney community will not be the same without him but his legacy is enormous and he won't be forgotten. Deepest condolences to his family, he loved you all so much

I have known Donal for nearly 30 years and I am so, so sad that we have lost him. Donal and Liam Plant made... Read more I have known Donal for nearly 30 years and I am so, so sad that we have lost him. Donal and Liam Plant made a deep impression ... Read more I have known Donal for nearly 30 years and I am so,... Read more

David Wheeler

I was so shocked to hear that Donal had succumbed to COVID. He was a good friend and professional colleague. We trained at the same time and met at the Renal Senior Registrar Club. As President of the Renal Association he did more than anybody else to bring the RA and BRS into alignment. He commanded huge respect within the renal community and beyond from healthcare professionals and patients. He achieved so much in his lifetime and would have done so much more. This is such a tragic premature loss of a highly talented warm hearted individual.

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Alice Smith

Kathryn Mills-Webb

Paul Altmann

What a tragic loss. We will all miss him terribly.

Donal and I started our nephrology careers together, first meeting when a group of us decided it would be a good idea to start a nephrology registrar club. It was clear then that he had the passion and drive to achieve great things and so he did. Like many others who knew him he always gave us time, and clearly was a great role model to others.

Unbelievable still!

My thoughts are with his family who will still be trying to come to terms with the premature loss of such a warm-hearted man. Best wishes to all.

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Kathryn Mills-Webb

marie mccarthy

I was deeply saddened to hear of the death of Donal. He was a truly talented and intelligent man but more importantly extremely kind and considerate to everyone.
He didnot know me, but following reading one of his well written articles on AKI , I emailed him for information pre an interview and I never imagined how much time and effort and the lengths he went to to ensure I had information provided . I often spoke to him at the odd conference or AQ meeting post that and he remained a very helpful and considerate person who had time for everyone no matter what . Marie McCarthy AKI Nurse Royal Liverpool.He will be deeply missed in this world and the world would be easier if more were like him.

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Kathryn Mills-Webb

Chris Dudley

I was deeply shocked and saddened to learn of Donal's premature death from this horrible disease. I first met him in the early days of the Renal SR club when he was clearly destined for great things as demonstrated by his organisational skills and ability to get on with everyone and bring them with him. There was a slight whiff of being anti-establishment about him in those early days which made him even more attractive! Over the years however, he recognised the importance of collaboration and shouldered the mantle of changing things from within, something he did with enormous energy and skill. Improving the lot of the renal patient was at the heart of everything he did and no one has been more successful. What a great guy, what a wonderful career and what a terrible loss. He will be sadly missed by a great many of us.

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Kathryn Mills-Webb

Lisa Willcocks

I met Donal at a meeting in Jordan and we had a fantastic day at Petra. Such a legend in UK Nephrology but such a humble and kind person. I’m so sad I will not get to chat with him again. I can’t imagine how much his family will miss him.

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Kathryn Mills-Webb

Bhavna Pandya

Still unbelievable!
Captured by Only cruel Covid irresponsibly and prematurely I have to say!
Donal was my supervisor when I was a 1st part time trainee of the region; was a president of the Renal Association when I chaired equality and diversity committee; and our invited speaker for the talk Professor Wilding and I had organised in Liverpool a few years back. He was only seconds away from the reply to any e-mail from anyone. He will remain a role model for this uniqueness. During his presidency he supported me for equal opportunities in renal community for a kick start to never look back.
Unbelievably he is not around us anymore! He will sadly be missed from around us but will remain a role model for many of us for his many unique characteristics. For renal and non-renal medical community of the UK and for friends and family, loss of multi-faceted Donal is irreplaceable!
My thoughts to Donal’s family and friends during this difficult time. May his soul rest in peace.

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Richard Smith

The last time I spent time with Donal was more than 20 years ago. As a nephrologist of a similar vintage, who worked in Bristol, our paths crossed, but we never worked together for any time. The lasting memory for me is that although we never worked closely together he always had time to answer the questions I put before him. Just a steer about the right direction for my crazy ideas. This preparedness to make time for a colleague he did not know well, has left an indelible mark. A remarkable man and a great loss. May he rest in peace.

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Patrick Maxwell DPhil FRCP FMedSci

University of Cambridge and the Cambridge-Sunway Collaboration

With colleagues at Cambridge University, I was shocked and deeply saddened to hear of Donal’s passing earlier this month. We were fortunate to meet Donal in his role as RCP Registrar both in Cambridge last year and in Kuala Lumpur in 2019 where he generously made time in his busy schedule to give a seminar presentation to a large audience of local physicians.
He was an avid supporter of the collaborative work of the RCP Global team and it was a privilege to hear him speak passionately about his work. We are indebted to him for the experiences he shared with us and saddened that our shared path was so brief.
With our sincere condolences to his family and friends at the RCP for this tragic loss.

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Jan Dudley

Donal
We worked in different areas of kidney care and didn’t know each other well. Your reputation of course preceded you as a global icon in nephrology. My lasting memory, however, is that of your support and kindness towards those in all areas of the specialty and it is this ability to galvanise and motivate the community that renders you ‘peerless’ in the eyes of many

Thank you

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Jonathan Kwan

Donal was a Giant of British Medicine, and a Titan of Global Nephrology. As a contemporary of Donal's, Donal's untimely passing has touched me deeply, and I am sure many many others too. Over the past 30+ years, Donal had never not paused to have a chinwag or two with this sclerosing nephron, through numerous professional or chance meetings, reminiscing the past, discussing the present, and pontificating the future. He is a sad loss for me personally and he will be missed by us all. My condolences go to his family. May he rest in peace.

Jonathan Kwan

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jenny ward

We at RCP West Midlands Oxford and Thames Valley first met Donal in his role as RCP Registrar in February 2019 when he joined us at a meeting of our regional advisers. We took the opportunity to ask him to present our colleague Jayne with her Peer Recognition Award - Winter 2018 - just look at those smiles ....

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Kathryn Mills-Webb

Eamonn Maher

I was fortunate to meet Donal in the first year of Medical School and, with Edmund Ladusans, we remained lifelong friends whose busy careers meant that reunions (family weddings, football games) were far too few but were special and highly treasured.
Looking through the tributes from his patients and colleagues it is wonderful to see the impact that he had on so many people’s lives and this has been echoed by colleagues in my own specialty who met him professionally.
Donal was wise, warm, compassionate, genuine and had a great wit. His commitment to equality of opportunity and inclusivity that shone through his role as RCP Registrar was total and it is tragedy that his mission has been cut short. With sincere condolences to dear Marie, his family, friends, colleagues and patients. RIP

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Kathryn Mills-Webb

Marie O'Donoghue

James O'Donoghue

Emilia Moretto

I met Donal just once at the Royal College of Physicians in June 2019 when I received my FRCP. He was so welcoming and spent time speaking with myself and my parents. My memories of that day have always been about how friendly and welcoming he was, and represented what I hoped to be a part of at the RCP. My sincere condolences to his family

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Kathryn Mills-Webb

Roger Greenwood

Farewell my pal and colleague of 25 years. The early days were fun and your energy drove some big changes. Most of all you were one of the best to meet at the evening social before those big conferences where the business really got done! Thank you for all those good times. Goodbye my friend.

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Bev Matthews

Kathryn Mills-Webb

Munir Pirmohamed

I first met Donal when I was Executive Director for Liverpool Health Partners, where he gave a stirring after-dinner speech. Over the last year or so, I have been working closely with him on a joint initiative between the British Pharmacological Society and the Royal College of Physicians to highlight the importance of pharmacogenomics to the NHS. He was a great enthusiast for the subject, and it was an immense pleasure and privilege to work with him. I will miss his wise counsel and his friendship. RIP.

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Kathryn Mills-Webb

Rachel Rummery

We met doing work on flexibility and diversity. He was committed to this sort of initiative, an example of his kind, inclusive and forward thinking nature. I am privileged to have met him.

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Kathryn Mills-Webb

Jorge Cerda

Donal and I closely collaborated in the Advocacy Working Group of the International Society of Nephrology. He was the warmest, most enthusiastic and brilliant colleague to work with. His loss is very unexpected and sad, we are all sorry not to have him with us anymore. Warm regards to his family

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In response to "What did you learn from Donal?"

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Kathryn Mills-Webb

Lesley Rees

I wish to send you all my sympathies for your loss of Donal. He has been, for many years, the very best representative for kidney patients and the kidney community in the UK. He was always wise, thoughtful and courageous in his decisions, which everyone respected. However, most importantly he was kind, gentle, without prejudice, caring and compassionate. He will be greatly missed.

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Kathryn Mills-Webb

Jayne Richards

Donal was always cheerful and caring and took a great interest in the Regional Office. When I left the RCP just a week before Christmas, when I now realise he was already unwell, he sent me a lovely message. Such a thoughtful person and a great loss to the RCP and medicine. My heart goes out to his family.
Jayne Richards

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Kathryn Mills-Webb

Jayne Richards

Shared a heart

Sue Lyon

My condolences to Donal's family. How must they must miss him!

I can't remember when I first met Donal, but I suspect it was at a meeting for kidney patients about the NSF. He was kindness itself, making a special effort to talk to every patient in the room.

Since then, I interviewed Donal several times in my day job as writer, and he was always as generous with his time as he was with his wisdom. The last time I interviewed him was for an article for Kidney Matters. Donal said he could do 10 minutes, and of course we were still talking 30 minutes later.

It's sometimes easy as a patient to be cynical about the NHS being 'patient centred', but Donal was the real deal. His focus was always on kidney patients and improving our care and our lives. He will be terribly missed.

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Kathryn Mills-Webb

James O'Donoghue

Liz Wallin

Donal was such a father figure to the renal community, it seems unthinkable that he is no longer here. He was an Important Person on several committees and events that I worked on, but always made everyone there feel at ease, he had a gift for breaking down the barriers so everyone felt important and brave enough to contribute. Though he worked with so many people, every time I met him he remembered me, asked how things were and was genuinely interested in the answers. He was a driving force behind so many changes, and improvements to what we do, but more than anything he made everyone feel like they were valuable to the renal community and will be sorely missed. My deepest condolences to his family, who I met briefly at the Royal College of Physicians when Bod was taking up his current role, his family was clearly the most important thing in his world, and I am so sorry for your loss.

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Kathryn Mills-Webb

James O'Donoghue

Greg Hood, MD, FRCP, MACP

He was a memorable part of my Fellows ceremony. I had very much looked forwards to working with him in future projects.

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Kathryn Mills-Webb

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Created with love by Graham Lipkin & Renal Community (Donal's coworker).

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