Máirtín Mac Gabhann said Dáithí had a “sparkle” back in his eye and that he had a “sweetie party” to watch the World Cup final.
“We couldn’t have asked for better, so far,” he told the Nolan Show.
However, Mac Gabhann added that life with Dáithí has been a “rollercoaster”.
“Every time I allow myself to smile I kind of rein it in a bit because I know it’s so early in his recovery.”
He said that Dáithí had been “very nervous” ahead of the operation and “understands the consequences of things going wrong”.
The operation was carried out at Freeman Hospital in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Mac Gabhann thanked hospital staff who he described as his family’s “only hope” over the past eight years.
