Keen sportsman Tom Metcalfe is looking forward to competing in the life-affirming games, where, between them, the Irish team members have 13 new kidneys, five new livers and one new kidney-pancreas.

The squad will travel to Gold Coast, Australia, on Tuesday, August 18th. Tom had dual surgery in 2007, when he received a liver transplant and also had his aortic heart valve replaced. This was followed last year by an angioplasty operation to put in stents.

Little wonder then he is looking forward to his first World Transplant Games with such enthusiasm. He will compete in swimming, cycling, ten pin bowling, and the 100m sprint.

“I played ice hockey during my late teens and early 20s, and I was also a keen cyclist for many years. I completed the Wicklow 200, for example,” said Tom.

“In my 40s, I learned to swim, took part in sprint triathlons, and even learned to roller-blade while working in the United States of America. I took part in endurance events up to 80 miles long.

“In recent years, I have learned to ski. Since the transplant, I have qualified as a ski instructor, and am now preparing for the next stage of qualification.

“I am a great believer in the value of a healthy lifestyle, and that’s why I am looking forward to these Games so much.

“It is a way of saying thanks to my donor, who gave me the gift of life.”

Earlier this year Tom was a volunteer at the TACKERS Ski Camp in Switzerland, a week-long ski camp for children who have had organ transplants.

Participation is the biggest thrill of all for those who take part in these Games, in light of the health problems all competitors have overcome just to be there.

“It’s not really about winning, it’s all about taking part. We honour our donors by showing that organ transplantation works. That’s a vital message to promote as the need for a life-saving organ transplant can visit a family with devastating speed, and at any age, even babies and children,” said team captain Mick Dwyer, who ten years ago had a kidney transplant.

Team manager Colin White paid tribute to the determination of the athletes taking part. “They have worked very hard to prepare for the Games, and they will help to show the world that you can enjoy a great life after receiving a transplant,” he said.

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 will be accompanied by manager Colin White; team doctor Emer Kilbride; physio Clare Hogan; and Mark Murphy, the CEO of the Irish Kidney Association, who is also a member of the World Transplant Games governing body. The team kit is sponsored by Shire Pharmaceuticals.

A special website has been built – www.transplantteamireland.com – where supporters can follow the team’s progress and send on messages of support. The site profiles each athlete and will carry daily updates on how the athletes are getting on.

For an organ donor card FREETEXT the word ‘DONOR’ to 50050.