Mallow’s Pat gearing up to go for gold in Sardinia
PAT - ‘MY TRANSPLANT HAS ALLOWED ME TO GET MY COMPETITIVE JUICES FLOWING AGAIN’
MALLOW’S Pat O’Sullivan will be among a team or 24 athletes who will this coming Saturday travel to Sardinia to take part in the 10th European Transplant and Dialysis Sports Championships.
More than 470 participants from more than 25 countries across the continent will take part in the games, which will run form June 17-24.
Kidney transplant recipient Pat will be among a trio of Cork athletes taking part in the games, along with Charlie Ryan from Cobh and Michael Keohane from Roscarberry, both of whom received liver transplants.
This will be the second time that Pat, who will be taking part in the tennis mixed double and the 100 and 200 metres, 4x100 relay and long jump has taken part in the games.
The 53-year old, who is married to Helen and has two adult children Carol and Patrick, received a kidney transplant three years ago and in his own words “will be forever grateful to my donor and their family”.
After falling ill while on holiday in 2002, Pat was told he had kidney problems. Although initially able to manage his condition through dietary and lifestyle changes combined with medication, Pat eventually had to begin dialysis and was put on the organ transplant waiting list.
At first Pat was able to juggle his role as manager at Mallow railway station and his commitment to community projects such as the Racing Home festival with daily dialysis, but it eventually began to take a toll on his health.
Speaking to the Corkman in 2015, Pat said that for the previous two years his energy levels had reduced and he was feeling unwell a lot of the time.
After more than two years on the waiting list Pat received the call he and Helen had been hoping and praying for from Dublin’s Beaumont Hospital and underwent a kidney transplant in August 2015.
“I was away for the weekend when the call finally came and I must say the journey from Sligo to Dublin was one of the strangest journeys I have ever undertaken,” recalled Pat.
“All kinds of thoughts were going through my mind, emotions were mixed as, even though I was going to get a new gift of life, there was a family somewhere else in the country preparing at this time to say goodbye to a loved one who had made the selfless decision to donate their organs in the hope they will save someone else,” he said.
Speaking this week Pat said that he was looking forward being part of a team environment, representing his country in Sardinia and meeting fellow transplant patients from Ireland and across Europe.
“Growing up I was always interested in sport but between work and my illness, I retired from any active sport when I was just 24. My transplant and involvement in the games has allowed me to get my competitive juices flowing again,” said Pat
“There is great satisfaction in competing, getting my feet into the starting block and getting through the finish line in one piece without pulling every single muscle in my body,” he grinned.
Pat said he hoped to create awareness in Mallow about organ donation and the immense life-changing benefits that a transplant can bring.
“I would also like to thank everyone who has helped me compete; Dr Plant, Mallow Athletics Club, Mallow GAA, Mallow Credit Union for helping me with the costs and Heather O’Brien, my physio for putting up with all my injuries.”
For more information about Pat and the Irish team and to keep up with their exploits in Sardinia visit the team blog on keep up with the team during the course of the games visit the team blog at www.transplantteamireland. wordpress.com
Organ Donor Cards can also be obtained by phoning the Irish Kidney Association on 01 6205306 or Free text the word DONOR to 50050.