A SOUTHSIDER who underwent a kidney transplant just seven weeks ago after his younger brother donated his own organ to him, will take part in the annual fundraising run for the Irish Kidney Association this week.
Colin Clare (49), from Firhouse, first began to suffer kidney disease when he was just 26-years-old, in 1990.
He was diagnosed as suffering from Chronic Nephritis, a type of kidney disease in which the part of the organs that filters out waste from the blood is damaged. The kidneys of those suffering from the disease usually shrink over time.
Colin eventually underwent a successful kidney transplant operation in 1991 but in 2010 he began to feel unwell again after his transplanted kidneys began to deteriorate.
He had dialysis treatment last year while health professionals were trying to find a suitable kidney donor for a second transplant.
He underwent another successful kidney transplant at the end of August this year thanks to the fact that his 39-year-old brother, Paul, selflessly donated one of his kidneys to him.
Now Colin has received his second new lease of life he is preparing to take part in the Irish Kidney Association’s charity fundraiser,
‘Run for a Life, which will take place at Park West Business Park, Dublin 12 on Saturday, October 13.
While Colin was receiving dialysis treatment last year in advance of his operation his sister, Sandra Cribbon (47), suddenly passed away. Acutely aware of Colin’s health problems, Sandra’s husband, John Cribbon, made the selfless decision last year to donate Sandra’s organs.
Colin said:
“Organ donation has been a big thing in our family for years because of my predicament. I attended Beaumont Hospital for the last 22 years and they did see if my sister’s kidneys would be a match for myself but unfortunately because of different tissue types and so on it wasn’t to be and her organs were donated to other people.
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John said both Sandra’s kidneys were donated to two people, who are now leading healthy lives.
Colin explained that following the death of his sister the rest of his siblings took part in a live transplant programme in August last year and doctors found that the kidneys of his brother Paul were an identical match for his own.
“They proceeded with the programme and one of my brothers and one of my sisters came back as a positive identical match,
? he added.
“My brother went forward then and donated the organ to me just six weeks ago.
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Colin said Paul had approached him about taking part in Run for a Life.
“We are doing the run but we are going to walk it,
? he said.
“The reason we are doing it is to promote organ donation. I am very closely associated with the Irish Kidney Association anyway and have been for a number of years.
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People signing up for Run for a Life will have the option of walking, jogging or running competitively in either a 3.4km, 6.7km or 10km event, commencing at 12 noon.
Registration (including t-shirt and participant medal, as well as soup and a sandwich afterwards) is
?¬15 for adults and
?¬10 per child. A family of two adults and up to four children can register for
?¬35.
Teams of three adults entering for the relay can register for e40. For registration and further details log onto www.runforalife.ie