Organ Donor families and grateful transplant recipients from Donegal joined a special service of remembrance and thanksgiving in Dublin at the weekend.
An estimated 1,600 people from across Ireland and beyond converged in the Church of the Holy Child, Whitehall on Saturday for the Irish Kidney Association 39th Annual Service.
Éilis Carlin, from Cloghan, Donegal, brought a picture of her son Tony who was 25 when he passed away in 2019.
She said, “the decision to donate his organs, saving four lives, was an easy one, as we knew we were following his wishes”.
Seamy McDermott, from Ballybofey told Virgin Media TV News that he received a kidney from his deceased donor twenty-two and a half years ago.
Seamy said, “Every morning I wake up and say a wee prayer to my donor. I wouldn’t be here today but for my donor”.
This unique service was an important occasion for people of all beliefs to remember deceased loved ones who have in their death given the gift of life to others. It’s an opportunity for grateful transplant recipients, their families and the wider organ donation and transplant community including Organ Donation Transplant Ireland, organ donor coordinators and transplant coordinators, and other healthcare professionals, to give thanks and pay tribute to organ donors for their precious gifts of life.
Following the Service, organ donor families viewed the name of their deceased donor loved one inscribed in the Book of Remembrance, a roll of honour for organ donors.
