Transplant athletes are 'ambassadors for a second chance in life'

Athletes from Transplant Sport Ireland were at Kilcullen Community Centre today for the launch of Team Ireland heading to the British Transplant & Dialysis Games, writes Brian Byrne.

At the event they were presented by Team Captain Harry Ward with team caps and competition booklets for the Games, which will run from 27-30 July in Coventry.

Kilcullen's James Nolan was the speaker for this morning's gathering, where he recalled a childhood of doctors waiting rooms, hospital visits and diets because of his kidney problems before he was given 'the gift of life' with a living donor transplant from his sister Catherine. "To be asked to speak here is a privilege and an honour," he said. "But it's also a time for reflection on the journey I have been on. I wouldn't be here but for what my sister did for me, 36 years ago in nine days' time. And I just know how lucky I am."

He told those present that they can go 'with pride' to Coventry representing their donor, their family, their county and Ireland. "At the end of the day, the purpose of the event is to showcase the success of organ donation, to show what people can do when they get a second chance of life. You have to be ambassadors for organ donor awareness, because you are so lucky to have achieved a second chance."

Many among his audience this morning were very familiar with how his personal account related to their own lives as donor recipients for kidneys, lungs, heart, pancreas and bone marrow. Transplant Team Ireland at Coventry will include participants from Cavan, Cork, Dublin, Kerry, Limerick, Louth, Tipperary, Mayo, Westmeath and Galway. It will be the biggest-ever Irish team to participate in the British games, and there are six children in the group.

The Diary talked with a number of the athletes this morning, and a future report will detail their stories and the transformative effect on their lives of receiving donor organs.

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