Connacht Tribune
Organ donation – giving life in midst of death
A trainee Galway midwife brought the national launch of Organ Donor Awareness Week to tears as she spoke about the positive impact donating their mother’s organs had created within her family during their devastating grief.
Chloe Greer, 21, who is from Claremorris, Co Mayo, and based at University Hospital Galway, recalled that she was just eleven when her mother Martina died very unexpectedly from an undetected brain aneurism.
Their father sat both herself and her 17-year-old sister Nicole to discuss organ donation following the tragedy.
“It was never something you really think about…We all immediately said yes. Why wouldn’t we? Why wouldn’t we agree that our mother wanted this wish fulfilled for her. She had her organ donor card, she knew what she wanted, so we said yes to her choice,” she told the launch at the Mansion House in Dublin.
Families who had received the organs sent cards and letters anonymously to thank her family for their decision to donate her organs.
“In the weeks during our grief, we read these letters and these cards. We didn’t know any names. We just were so humbled by these people outpouring their stories of their journeys of seeking an organ and how our choice to just say yes had changed these people’s lives and improved their quality of life and given them a second choice of life and given them ten extra years which is amazing,” she recalled.
One story stuck out more than all the others, the recipient of their mother’s heart, a young child.
“An eight-year-old girl who her parents did not know if this was it for her and if they were going to have to say goodbye to their daughter. And just when all hope seemed lost, they received the phone call that would change all of their lives forever.
“She’s 18 today. That’s insane to think about. That somewhere out there these parents have gotten ten extra years with their daughter, who was only a few years younger than me was when I lost my mother.”
Chloe said she could not even begin to describe the comfort and the joy that the organ donation experience has brought her family in the past ten years.
“To hear the stories of what happens to the people who receive these organs from people like my mother, who pass away unfortunately but make the choice to donate their organs, it has been nothing short of a superhero story.
“To know that one woman could save five lives and affect five separate families, to know that someone has gotten ten extra years with their brother, their sister, their son, their daughter, their mother, their father, is nothing short of a miracle.
“I am so honoured to speak today on behalf of my mother. I cannot begin to describe how thankful I am for the letters and the cards we receive every year. And although this time of grief and this loss is tragic and has impacted upon us and our lives, irreversibly so, I will also look on this as a positive experience that has changed my life for the better.”
Last year there were 171 transplants carried out as a result of deceased organ donations, up from 162 in 2020. Patients also received organs as a result of donations from people who were alive in 2022, up seven on the year before.
There are just under 600 people active on waiting lists for organ transplants including heart, lung, liver, kidney and pancreas.
This year’s campaign features 32 organ recipients, who between them have gained over 400 years of extra life since their transplant.
Members of the public are urged to carry an organ donor card, download the app and permit Code 115 to be included on their driver’s licence. They should also let their families know about their wish to be an organ donor.
Donor Cards can be requested by visiting the Irish Kidney Association website, phone the Irish Kidney Association on 01-620 5306 or free text the word DONOR to 50050.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
