Pax celebrates 80th after an eventful year
AN 80th birthday is a big event in any person’s life but in the case of Peter ‘Pax’ Shortall, from Castlebridge, it was an extra special occasion when he celebrated it in the Riverbank House Hotel on Saturday night.
A large crowd of family members and friends gathered in the venue to acknowledge a man for whom 2018 was full of ups-anddowns. It was a year in which he had a kidney transplant, contracted a virus that put him on life support, and met former American President Bill Clinton after being invited to Dublin Castle to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of Concern Worldwide.
In February, 2018, during the infamous ‘Beast from the East’ storm it wasn’t possible for Pax to travel to the dialysis unit in University Hospital, Waterford; he attended the unit three times-per-week for dialysis over the previous seven years.
The inclement weather forced him to miss two sessions, however, people rallied around him including Cllr George Lawlor and army personnel and he was taken to the dialysis unit in Wexford General Hospital where he received what was affectively life-saving treatment.
In March, things turned around and he got the call that he had been waiting on for years - a donor kidney had become available - and Pax underwent a successful transplant in Beaumont Hospital in Dublin on March 9.
However, in October, Pax contracted a virus and ended up fighting for his life in University Hospital, Waterford, where he was in intensive care for five weeks and remained in hospital for nine weeks in total.
Despite a poor prognosis he confounded medical experts and made a marvellous recovery.
Pax and his family think his kidney problems may have stemmed from his involvement in 1968 with the first ever mercy mission crew sent from Ireland to Africa on board the MV St Columcille.
One of a team of 12, Pax became infected with dysentery and malaria and it’s likely that affected his kidney function resulting in him needing many years of dialysis and ultimately last year’s transplant.
On that 1968 trip the team were working on behalf of an organisation called Africa Concern and the aim was to deliver aid to people affected by the Nigerian/Biafran conflict.
A marine engineer by trade he volunteered for the first mission and as part of that crew he didn’t just put his own life in danger he also succeeded in saving the lives of countless other people through his role delivering aid from Ireland.
It was because of his involvement in that first mission and his links to the organisation that Pax was invited to attend the 50th anniversary celebrations in Dublin Castle of the founding of Concern Worldwide.
Pax is one of only two surviving members of that 1968 aid team and he was joined by his colleague, Karl Vekins, at the Dublin Castle event.
In Dublin they were thanked by former American President Bill Clinton, President Michael D Higgins, Mary Robinson and United Nations Deputy Secretary- General Amina Mohammad.
While speaking to Mr Clinton, Pax informed him that his father, Peter Benedict Shortall, had served in the American Navy on the battleship USS Arkansas during World War I.
That was the same state President Clinton was Governor of in the 1970s and 80s so there was an instant connection between them.
In response President Clinton thanked Pax and his father for their service to humanity.
As someone who has always thought of others his entire life Pax requested that for his birthday celebration, in lieu of gifts ,guests would donate money to the Dialysis Patient Fund at Waterford University Hospital.
Through that gesture he managed to raise €1,100 for the unit from his party.
His birthday event was more than just a celebration of someone reaching their milestone 80th; it was an acknowledgement of a man held in extremely high regard within the community as someone who has always lended a helping hand to others during an extra-ordinary life.