220 G. O’Brien
prospective recipients: 13 heart and six liver recipients, and one liver
and ten kidney prospective recipients. Participants ranged in age from
35 to 76 years, and time since transplant varied from 10 weeks to
11 years. One participant had received two transplants (his first liver
transplant having failed after 6 weeks), while another had received a
liver transplant and, 2 years later (after experiencing recurrent liver
problems), was on the waitlist for a second.
All prospective recipients were on transplant waitlists, and one
received an organ during the course of the study. All those on the kid-
ney transplant waitlist were on dialysis, with time on dialysis ranging
from 6 weeks to 5 years. One of the prospective kidney recipients had
received a (live) kidney donation from a relative but after a short time
the kidney failed, and she was on the waitlist for a second transplant.
The final data corpus comprised 42 interviews, ranging in length from
approximately 20 min (a follow-up interview) to 2 h and 15 min.
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was adopted as a rel-
evant mode of analysis (Smith 2011 ). IPA is an idiographic approach
that privileges the individual and also recognises the active role of the
analyst in accessing an in-depth account of a particular experience
(Pringle et al. 2011 ). Analysis proceeded through a process of read-
ing participants’ narratives, noting initial themes. Narratives, extracts
and accompanying notes were re-read (many times) to develop a final
account in which recurring and interconnected themes, both within
and across narratives, were described. The names of all participants
referred to herein are pseudonyms.
Deservingness: The Gift of a Heart
Regardless of whether they are perceived to be donations or gifts, organs
for transplant vary along a number of dimensions that have important
implications for the experience of transplantation. These include, but
are not necessarily limited to: the basis for need, social worth and sym-
bolic weight (Sharp 1995 ). Across all of these dimensions, Sharp ( 1995 )
argued, hearts can be considered amongst the most valuable of organs.
In terms of need, hearts are life-saving organs and those on the waitlist