IRELAND’S TRANSPLANT team flew from Dublin airport yesterday to compete in the 17th World Transplant Games in Australia. The event will see more than 2,000 athletes from 50 countries take part from August 23rd-30th.
The World Transplant Games has athletes who received an organ transplant over a year ago compete in an array of sporting events, including golf, swimming, cycling and squash.
The team flew out for next week’s games in great spirit, despite concern over funding for next year’s European Transplant and Dialysis Games to be held in Dublin next August.
Irish Kidney Association chief executive Mark Murphy said the task now is to raise €200,000 to fund the European Transplant and Dialysis Games next year.
“The health department cut our funding by 60 per cent this year due to the state of the economy. And now we need to find sponsorship to raise the extra €200,000 it will take to host the games.”
Ireland Transplant team manager Colin White also expressed concern over sponsorship of the games next August.
“To convey a message to any sponsors out there who think that the event may pass by unpublicised, rest assured it will not be a low-key event. It will be the biggest organ donor awareness event of the year.”
Ireland came 10th in the world in 2007 when they brought home a record 39 medals from the world games in Bangkok in Thailand.
The Irish manager hopes that coming close to that record again will help gain funding for next year’s games.
“It will build momentum if we come back with over our record 39 medals. No pressure, but it will increase the hopes of sponsorship.”
With more than 80 people a year receiving transplants in Ireland, the 19-strong team, ranging in age from 22 to 64, have received 13 new kidneys, five new livers and one new kidney-pancreas.
One competitor new to the games is Philip Martin (22), from Swords, Dublin, who received his first of three kidney transplants at age 4.
“I played sports all my life, golf in particular, but I was on dialysis for a long time and couldn’t even make an 11-hole golf game. But because of the new kidney I received in 2008, there has been no stopping me.”
Patients in Ireland last year received 25 heart transplants, 57 liver transplants and six kidney transplants. Ireland is rated seventh in the world in terms of the number of deceased organ donations, and 13th for the number of transplants that take place every year.