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Hailed as ‘the bravest of the brave’, the Irish team today (TUESDAY) departed for the 17th World Transplant Games in Gold Coast, Australia – and every team member remembers the donor who gave them the gift of life.
 Team member Vienna White
Hailed as ‘the bravest of the brave’, the Irish team today (TUESDAY) departed for the 17th World Transplant Games in Gold Coast, Australia – and every team member remembers the donor who gave them the gift of life.
The 19-strong team, ranging in age from 22 to 64, will travel with 13 new kidneys, five new livers and one new kidney-pancreas.
“These athletes really are the bravest of the brave,” said team manager Colin White, “because they have come through very tough times in their lives, and still want to compete for Ireland in the World Transplant Games. It is life-affirming.”
Speaking at a farewell reception in Dublin Airport, he added: “We often say that every single person who takes part in these Games is a winner already, by just getting to the starting-line. And that’s the spirit which governs these Games – it really makes the event so special.”
Two years ago, the Irish team brought a record haul of 39 medals from the World Games in Bangkok, Thailand.
“Every day, we thank our donors. Before every event at the Games, we will remember our donors. In most cases, we don’t know who passed away to give us the gift of life, but we are eternally grateful to the donors and their families,” said team captain Mick Dwyer, who has ‘never looked back’ since getting a kidney transplant ten years ago.
“Some members of our team received live donations from members of their own families, and they, too, will thank their donors. These Games are a celebration of life, and every athlete at the Games knows what they have come through just to be there.”
The competitors will wear the green, white and gold and at the Games in Gold Coast, Australia, from Saturday next, August 23rd to Sunday, August 30th.
The full Irish team is:
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 is accompanied by manager Colin White; team doctor Emer Kilbride; physio Clare Hogan; and Mark Murphy, the CEO of the Irish Kidney Association.
They will compete in lawn bowls, race-walking, golf, tennis, track and field, table tennis, ten-pin bowling, cycling, badminton, squash, and swimming.
A special website has been built – www.transplantteamireland.com – where supporters can follow the team’s progress. For an organ donor card FREETEXT the word ‘DONOR’ to 50050.
Some facts about the Team & the Games
• These are the 17th World Transplant Games
• Over 2,000 athletes from 50 countries will take part
• Next year, Ireland will host the European Transplant & Dialysis Games in Dublin from August 8th-15th.
• Athletes taking part will have received a transplant of one, or a combination, of the following: kidney, liver, heart, pancreas, lungs, bone marrow
• In 2007, in Bangkok, Ireland team finished tenth on the medals table from 49 competing countries. Ireland brought home a total of 39 medals
• Sli Nua Communications (see below) will provide up-to-the-minute reports from the Games
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