Vivienne is named as ambassador for 2016 Organ Donation Week

A NORTHSIDE woman named as ambassador for Organ Donation Week is hoping her story will help to start a conversation around donations and transplants.

Vivienne Traynor (44), from Skerries, an RTÉ News anchor and Courts Correspondent, witnessed first-hand the whole process of organ donation and transplantation after her nephew Martin received a second kidney from a deceased donor in November 2014.

Five years earlier, Martin Traynor had also received a kidney from Vivienne after undergoing three years of dialysis treatment.

“When news came through that a second kidney was available for Martin I was at first elated but this feeling was very quickly replaced by thoughts for the deceased donor and their family,” said Vivienne.  

“I was really touched that a family in the midst of all their grief took the time to consider someone else. 

“I cannot find the words to express what that meant to us at that moment, on that day and every day since. 

“It is something I think of regularly and I know Martin thinks about it every day.”

Vivienne, a mother-of-four, said that to see Martin return from surgery in a matter of hours and given a whole new lease of life was “one of the greatest things I have witnessed”. 

“The kindness of strangers meant so much to us that day,” she said.

“I was honoured to be able to donate a kidney to Martin in July 2009. My sister Gina, Martin’s aunt, had also come forward for testing but my kidney was chosen towards the end of the testing process. 

“Both Martin and I made a good recovery after the operations and the successful transplant allowed him to enjoy a normal life for five years away from dialysis and in that time he became a father.” 

However, in 2013 signs of Martin’s original condition, IgA nephropathy, returned and it started to affect the transplanted kidney. 

“By mid-2014 he was back on dialysis and eventually placed back on the waiting list for another transplant,” said Vivienne.

“He was just six weeks on the list when a kidney from a deceased donor became available in November 2014.”

Vivienne said she is delighted to have been invited by the Irish Kidney Association (IKA) to be the ambassador for Donor Awareness Week, which takes place from April 2-9.

“I hope that by sharing the story of donation and transplantation in our family, we can help other families to start the conversation about their wishes surrounding deceased organ donation,” she added.

The 2016 campaign will feature Vivienne in radio advertising as well as on posters, encouraging the public to support organ donation. 

There are approximately 700 people in Ireland awaiting life-saving heart, lung, liver, kidney and pancreas transplants.

Thanks to the gift of organ donation, over 3,000 people in Ireland are enjoying extended life. 

In 2015, 266 organs were transplanted; 233 were as a result of the generosity of the families of 81 deceased donors and the remaining 33 were from living kidney donors.

Of those, Beaumont Hospital carried out 153 kidney transplants, including 33 from living donors.

Organ Donor Awareness Week also serves as a fundraising exercise for the Irish Kidney Association. 

Throughout the week the association’s volunteers will be out on the streets and in shopping centres throughout the country, selling ‘forget-me-not-flower’ emblems, brooches, pens and shopping trolley discs.

Meanwhile, the IKA has introduced another fundraising method. You can text ‘kidney’ to 50300 and €2 will be donated from your mobile phone account to the association.

Organ Donor Cards can also be obtained by phoning the Irish Kidney Association, LoCall 1890 543639 or Freetext the word   DONOR to 50050.

Also, it is now possible to store an organ donor card, the ‘ecard’, on Smart mobile phones. Search for ‘Donor ECard’ at the iPhone App Store or Android Market Place. Visit www.ika.ie for more information.