Tipperary Rose honours grandfather's memory while promoting organ donation

The newly crowned Tipperary Rose of Tralee is aiming to increase organ donor awareness while honouring the memory of her late grandfather from Mayo who lost his battle with kidney failure six years ago.

Pharmacist Laura Durkan (26) from Glenconnor, Clonmel, was delighted to have won the title of Tipperary Rose at a Rose of Tralee event held in Thurles over the Easter weekend, at the beginning of Organ Donor Awareness Week. She will represent her county and the Irish Kidney Association at the international Rose of Tralee Festival, which will be held in August.

Laura explained: “I’m absolutely thrilled and feel honoured to have been selected as the Tipperary Rose while representing the Irish Kidney Association and for my timely selection at the beginning of Organ Donor Awareness Week.”

“I hope that I can use my profile in this international competition to raise awareness about the plight of people in organ failure and the undisputable benefits of organ donation and transplantation while honouring the memory of my dear grandfather, Paddy Durkan from Ballybeg, near Ballina. I have received lots of encouragement in this goal from my parents John and Anne Durkan, my sister Grace and brother Jack, as well as my employer Pfizer in Kildare and of course the Irish Kidney Association, who I represented in the competition.

“I have seen first-hand the benefits of organ donation while working as a locum pharmacist in the community and witnessing how organ failure impacted on patients’ lives, including a colleague of mine, and the transformational benefits some experienced through organ transplantation for all organs including heart, lung, kidney and liver.

“Closer to home and my heart though, was my late grandfather’s kidney failure experience, which has had a profound impact on myself and my family. Six years ago, my grandfather Paddy Durkan, whom I was very close to and loved dearly, passed away in his 80s following over a decade of three times weekly dialysis treatment. We are grateful that the dialysis treatment kept him alive for so long.

"However, towards the end it took its toll and he became very sick and just didn’t have the physical or emotional will to continue the arduous treatment with its side effects, which in the final months, left him without any quality of life. He passed away peacefully two weeks after his final dialysis treatment. The medical and nursing staff who cared for him in Castlebar were outstanding in their knowledge, compassion and care for him throughout his dialysis journey.

“It’s heartening to hear that the number of people who received organ transplants last year has increased. This can give hope to all those people who are languishing on waiting lists, and their families, hoping that they will be called for a life-saving transplant. While sadly my grandfather did not get a transplant, I hope that other families who have an elderly relative waiting for a kidney transplant can take heart in knowing that senior age doesn’t have to be a barrier to organ transplantation. I understand that a number of older people were among those who underwent transplants last year including many in their 70s and even one in their early 80s. I would encourage everyone of all ages to discuss organ donation with their family and let their wishes be known.

“It is a great privilege to be selected as the Tipperary Rose and I am very excited about taking part in the international Rose of Tralee festival. I hope I can do my county, my family and my late grandparents, Paddy and Mary, and the festival organisers proud while at the same time supporting the Irish Kidney Association in the work it does in caring for kidney patients and their families as well as its promotion of organ donation through the organ donor card.”  

Organ Donor Awareness Week is organised by the Irish Kidney Association and supported by the ODTI (Organ Donation Transplantation Ireland), and takes place from 31st March until 7th April.

This year marks some significant milestones for the Irish Kidney Association:
•         The 40th anniversary of the organisation, which was founded in April 1978;
•         The 40th anniversary of the kidney donor card which has evolved over the years into the organ donor card;
•         The 60th Anniversary since the first-time dialysis treatment in Ireland in May 1958;
•         The 55th anniversary of the first transplant, a kidney transplant, which took place at the old St. Vincent’s Hospital on St. Stephen’s Green carried out on a 21-year-old Dublin man, Ted Tobin.
 
The key message of Organ Donor Awareness Week is that families need to talk to each other about organ donation and keep the reminders of their willingness to donate visible by carrying the organ donor card and permitting Code 115 to be included on their driver’s license.

Organ Donor Awareness Week also serves as a fundraising exercise for the Irish Kidney Association. Throughout the Week (31st March - 7th April 2018), the Association’s volunteers will be out on the streets, and in shopping centres throughout the country, distributing organ donor cards while selling 'forget-me-not-flower' emblems, brooches, lapel pins, pens and shopping trolley discs.

All proceeds will go towards the Irish Kidney Association’s aid for patients on dialysis and those patients fortunate enough to have received a kidney transplant. The Irish Kidney Association’s charitable activities include the provision of a 13-double bedroom, free accommodation facility for patients and their families in the grounds of Beaumont Hospital and holiday centres located in Tramore and Kerry, together with patient advocacy, advice, counselling, financial aid and rehabilitative, health promotion through sport and the provision of kidney patient information and education through its head office in Dublin and its 25 branch network of volunteers throughout the country.

Free information fact files, which accompany organ donor cards, are obtainable from the Irish Kidney Association and are available nationwide from pharmacies, GP surgeries and Citizen Information Offices.

Organ Donor Cards can also be obtained by phoning the Irish Kidney Association at 01 6205306, or free text the word DONOR to 50050. Visit website www.ika.ie/card