Organ Donor Awareness week runs from next Saturday, 1 April to 8 April and promises to be a busy time for the Westmeath Branch of the Irish Kidney Association.
Chairman, Eddie Flood, himself a kidney recipient in 2011, said raising awareness is the major objective and he thanked everyone for being so supportive over the years.
“We are beholden to the public for their support and they have been very good to us. We really appreciate that and next week is an important one for us. We had 50 living donor transplants in Ireland last year, up from 40 the previous year, and the target is to increase that again in the year ahead,” he said.
“Each year this is a major week for us and we will be in Mullingar on Saturday next, at the Credit Union and Post Office, meeting the public,” he explained.
Once again RTE’s Vivienne Traynor is the ambassador for Organ Donor Awareness Week, which was launched by the Minister for Health, Simon Harris TD, in the Mansion house on Tuesday of this week.
As usual, the Forget Me Not emblem will be available, as will key rings and donor cards. The Westmeath Branch will be on the street from 9am and they would welcome assistance from any of their members, who can contact Eddie Flood on 087 9665750.
Eddie also sent best wishes to all members who are ill at this time and said they will be remembered at this important time of the year. Transplant recipients are also very grateful to their donors and the donor families for their kind deed. “We have received a very important gift and that will always be cherished,” added Eddie.
