Give gift of life by carrying card
FORMER Tanaiste and EU Commissioner Ray MacSharry has been made Ambassador of the Sligo Branch of the Irish Kidney Association.
He officially launched Donor Week awareness last Tuesday in the IKA Garden of Reflection at Doorly Park.
Addressing assembled guests, Ray recalled the founding of the Sligo branch of the IKA in 1980 by Ms. Angela McKinney.
In those days, kidney patients had to make the arduous journey all the way to Dublin for dialysis three times a week as there was no dialysis unit in Sligo.
The dialysis unit in Sligo University Hospital today treats 52 patients a week.
The IKA is running their annual Donor Awareness Week next week, starting this Saturday 31st March with collections take place around Sligo town and in Aldi all day selling Forget-Me-Not flower emblems and other merchandise.
They will also have a presence in Quayside Shopping Centre on Saturday.
A free cookery demonstation of dishes suitable for those on a special renal diet will be given by chef Joe Shannon at the Radisson Hotel next Thursday 5 th April at 7.30pm.
There will be refreshments, tastings and a raffle at the event, according to kidney/pancreas transplant recipient, Sligo IKA branch Vice- Chair and IKA national board member Marie Fowley.
“We’ve also prizes sponsored by many local businesses,” she told The Sligo Champion.
There will also be an Organ Donor Awareness Day in the foyer of Sligo University Hospital on Tuesday 3rd April.
Last year saw an 10 per cent increase in organ failure according to the IKA.
Last year’s national organ donation figures revealed that from 99 sudden deaths of donors, 260 people received organ transplants of kidneys, livers, hearts, lungs and pancreas.
There were 51 living kidney donors and transplants in Ireland last year.
People are being urged to carry organ donor cards which are available in all pharmacies.
For more information see www.ika.ie/card.