Sport

17-strong team from the North competing at Transplant Games in Leeds

Derry native Richie Sheerin is competing at the Transplant Games in Leeds
Derry native Richie Sheerin is competing at the Transplant Games in Leeds Derry native Richie Sheerin is competing at the Transplant Games in Leeds

SEVENTEEN athletes from the North are competing in the British Transplant Games which began in Leeds yesterday.

The ‘celebration of life’ has been running for over 40 years and this year 1,000 transplant survivors, including children as young as five, will compete in a range of sports over four days with many athletes going on to compete at the World Transplant Games.

The 17-strong team from the North will be supported by two Belfast Health and Social Care Trust staff who will provide medical support to the group. The NI team ranges in age from 18 to 60+ and consists of eight kidney transplantees, four liver recipients, four patients who have had their life transformed through bone marrow transplants and one living donor who is competing after donating her kidney to her sister who is also attending.

The team are taking part in a wide range of sports including swimming, basketball, archery, table tennis, indoor bowl, ten-pin bowling, badminton, golf, cycling and track and field. For the first time ever, TSNI are competing in the five-a-side football competition and are grateful to the IFA for their support in donating kit to the team.

“Year on year we see the benefits that attendance at the Games has on new transplantees,” explained athlete and kidney recipient Kathryn Glover.

“In many cases sport has become a regular part of their transplant rehabilitation with members joining local sports clubs and setting new sporting challenges and some have even gone on to represent NI at European and World Transplant Games in their chosen sport.

“The Games also help to demonstrate the benefits of transplantation whilst increasing public awareness of the need for more people to join the NHS Organ Donation Register and discuss their organ donation decision with their families.”

In spring next year, the law around organ donation in Northern Ireland will change to an opt-out system. ‘Dáithí’s Law’, named after five-year-old organ donation campaigner Dáithí Mac Gabhann who has been awaiting the gift of a new heart for over four years, will mean in the event that organ donation is a possibility after a person’s death, it will be considered that all adults agree to being an organ donor unless they choose to opt out or are in an excluded group.

As organ and tissue donation and transplantation saves and transforms hundreds of lives each year, the new law will help more people save more lives by making it easier for those who support organ donation to say ‘yes’ to giving the ‘gift of life’.

This is because while 90 per cent of people in Northern Ireland support organ donation, only 52 per cent of people have registered their decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register.

Only one per cent of people will die in circumstances where donation is possible, generally in hospital on a ventilator, which illustrates the shortage of organs and why every donation is precious. Sadly, 15 people in Northern Ireland died awaiting a transplant last year but 55 families supported the gift of organ donation which enabled 127 life-saving transplants.

Organ donation is a most precious gift and the selfless act of donors and their families is at the heart of organ donation. 100 lives in Northern Ireland were saved and transformed through deceased organ donation last year, however, there are around 122 people currently awaiting a transplant.