€1m target for kidney committee

A Kilcullen-based kidney research funding group is hoping that it will soon break through the €1m mark in money raised.

The Punchestown Kidney Research Committee has already raised some €646,000 for various kidney-related projects, and its 2005 efforts are aimed at paying for a holiday home in Co Kerry for kidney patients on dialysis.

The house, in Tralee, has already been bought. James Nolan, whose own kidney transplant in 1987 was the genesis of the Punchestown Kidney Research Committee, says it will particularly be of benefit to Haemo Dialysis patients, whose illness is so severe that they need to undertake dialysis every second day, or die.

These are people who can't normally take a holiday, but with this home in Tralee they will have access to dialysis at the nearby general hospital.

James had progressive kidney failure from the time he was born, and following his recovery after being donated a transplant kidney by his sister Catherine at the age of 20, he resolved to put something back into the research that had saved his own life.

He organised the Punchestown Kidney Research Charity Sweepstakes race in 1990, which has become the traditional last race of the meeting.

A 2-mile flat event, it has attracted support from a host of amateur riders who undertake to raise a minimum of €1,000 each in sponsorship.

He participated in the first 13 events himself, winning in 2002 on Nero's Dancer.

The proceeds of the race and associated fundraising events are used to invest in projects which improve the daily life of dialysis patients, which try to maximise the lifespan of the transplanted kidney, and which are trying to identify the causes of renal failure and come up with new treatments.

Further information from James Nolan at 045 481229.

— Brian Byrne.