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Transplant Team Ireland

Countdown to World Transplant Games - Sweden 2011   2011-6-17 17:00:00 GMT+00:00

Home arrow The News arrow Games Latest arrow Celebrating the gift of life
Celebrating the gift of life PDF Print E-mail
Written by Colin White   
Wednesday, 23 September 2009
By Clare Hogan, Team Physio
In 2008, I was given the opportunity to travel to Wurzburg, Germany, with the Irish team competing in the European Transplant & Dialysis Games. It was an incredible experience, particularly as the team won a staggering 42 medals.
There was a buzz and sense of camaraderie as every athlete sought to be the best that they could be. I know that sounds like a cliché, but it is particularly true in this instance, because every athlete has come a long way, often from the brink of death, to just get to the starting line. Image
This year, we were ‘on the road’ again – this time all the way to Gold Coast, Australia, for the 17th World Transplant Games. The team management, led by the irrepressible Colin White, believe having a physio ‘on site’ with the team is quite important, and I was delighted to once again be selected.
Nineteen athletes traveled from all over Ireland. My job was to deal with the main ailments that inevitably occur during a high-intensity week of competition. Some of the athletes were taking in extremely demanding events – 5km run, 5k walk, 1500m, swimming, and the sprint events where muscles are given such a severe test. In essence, every event puts a strain on the athlete and my role was to treat those as early as possible so that they could compete at their best for their next event.
Gold Coast is a beautiful place, and the decidedly un-Irish weather was a bonus. But, as you can imagine, I didn’t have much time to explore the region during the week of the competition, and the few days either side, as I was busy treating the athletes.
These people have come through a great deal in life. They have all had transplants of one type or other. There were about 2,000 athletes there from 50 countries.
Just to give you an idea, the Irish team had 13 new kidneys, five new livers and one kidney-pancreas. Over the course of the week, they won an impressive 22 medals in what was described as one of the most competitive World Games ever staged.
Little wonder they got such a huge reception when they arrived home to Dublin Airport. As with the departure just a fortnight earlier, the TV cameras were there to celebrate what all the athletes wished to celebrate most of all – the gift of life.
Team manager Colin White has described them as “exceptional ambassadors for organ donation, and also for Ireland” – and I couldn’t agree more. They have a zest and enthusiasm for life that is positively infectious. Messages of goodwill have poured into the team via their dedicated website TransplantTeamIreland.com.
If you go there, you will read what their families and friends think of them: they are so proud of how they live such full and active lives after transplantation.
As the saying goes, “don’t bring your organs to heaven, heaven knows we need them here.”
The key message of the Games, staged every second year, is the importance of organ donation.
By the way, the 22 medals won placed Ireland eleventh out of 50 competing countries on the medals table. Next year, Ireland hosts the European Transplant & Dialysis Games in Dublin. It will offer Irish people an opportunity to witness at close hand the glory of transplant and dialysis sports. It is hoped to have the biggest-ever number of Irish transplant and dialysis athletes
There is a lot of research, which shows that exercise can be of huge benefit to dialysis patients. In Cork University Hospital, I work with dialysis patients in our renal units, and see the benefits at first-hand.
Come along for even a few hours to Dublin next year: you won’t be disappointed. Heroes, one and all.
The full Irish team was:
Paul Donohoe (Cavan); Michael Dwyer (captain, Dublin); Deirdre Faul (vice-captain, Dublin); Tony Gartland (Wicklow); James Hannon (Longford); John Loftus (Limerick); Philip Martin (Dublin); Tom Metcalfe (Dublin); Linda Meyler (Galway); Catherine Murphy (Cork); James Nolan (Kildare); John Paul O’Neill (Kilkenny); Paul Prendergast (Dublin); Orla Hogan-Ryan (Tipperary); Charlie Ryan (Cork); Leonard Ryan (Dublin); Angela Sherlock (Dublin); Harry Ward (Dublin); and Vienna White (Donegal.)
The team was also accompanied by manager Colin White; team doctor Emer Kilbride; and Mark Murphy, the CEO of the Irish Kidney Association.
For Organ Donor Cards freetext the word DONOR to 50050 or visit the Irish Kidney Association website www.ika.ie

* Clare Hogan is a Physiotherapist at Cork University Hospital. She also practices at Fermoy Physiotherapy Clinic.
 
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