- JIM BRADY (Right) & STEPHEN MC LAUGHLIN HAND OVER A CHEQUE TO THE RVH LIVER SUPPORT GROUP.
- JIM BRADY TAKES PART IN THE ALL SAINTS GAC ANNUAL FUN RUN
Local GAA Coach Raising Funds & Awareness for Organ Donation
Local All Saints GAA juvenile coach Jim Brady has recently been involved in raising funds for the Royal Victoria Hospital Liver Support Group by running the Larne Half Marathon. He explained the motivation behind his decision to Saffron Gael.
I had started running 2 years ago as part of the All Saints GAC Saints & Slimmers Health & Well-Being Initiative. The approach was simple – Couch to 5k run in 6 weeks assisted by the volunteers of the Ballymena Runners Athletic Club. 5k completed, the question was what to do next? For me keeping the running up was part of that plan. Gradually, with the help and support of fellow Saints & Slimmers participants, we graduated to the weekly ECOS 5k run which in turn led to longer runs mid-week. As many runners will know the motivation to keep at it can involve setting both short and long term goals. For me the long term goal was the half marathon distance and so the training for the next such event in Larne began. It was during the training for this event that a fund raising focus materialised within our family.
As many of our friends and family knew my wife’s eldest brother Stephen had been diagnosed with a degenerative liver condition a few years before which required a liver transplant. Stephen is a former player with the All Saints Club winning a Junior Hurling Championship in the mid-80s.
Liver transplants are not carried out in the RVH and he got the call to go to King’s College Hospital, London, 2 days before Christmas 2016. My wife, her sister and their brother literally dropped everything and made their way to Belfast International Airport to catch a flight to London alongside Stephen. After a blue light dash through London traffic they arrived at the hospital and the process of preparing Stephen began. He had his transplant operation on Christmas Eve.
Until you find yourself in someone like Stephen’s position or that of the wider family circle you can’t really appreciate the enormity of the situation. Several challenges appear immediately when the call comes, many of them emotional and some very practical. Following the initial elation at the news you are very quickly on your way to London within a few short hours for a procedure that you’ve tried to prepare yourself for as best you can. You’ve then got to consider the other issues that you face including family support arrangements, arranging flights, securing accommodation while there and so on.
The RVH Liver Support Group is a group of local people who provide non-medical support for patients and their families before, during and after their operation. To be able to contact someone who has walked in your shoes and who can advise on a range of issues that you face is vital. I chose them as the recipients of my fundraising appeal to thank them for their past and present support for Stephen and to help them to continue to provide this support for other families now and in the future.
Though it has been less than a year since his surgery he is doing well. He still has a long way to go in his recovery but is heading in the right direction. As a family we owe such a debt of gratitude to the anonymous relatives of the donor for giving their consent to donate, a decision taken at such a sad and difficult time for them. And this aspect of the run was just as important as the fundraising element – raising the profile of organ donation.
Organ donation is something that we are all aware of. In recent years the high profile nature of Joe Brolly’s involvement in raising awareness of organ donation has helped to generate important discussion within the GAA community but until it comes to your door you can’t really appreciate the situation fully or the on-going need for families to take that decision. And that is the simple message. Have the discussion! Let your closest relatives know what decision you would like them to take should they be asked and consider signing the Organ Donor Register. It’s a simple process and even when you do sign up your next of kin will still have to give their permission. More information on organ donation can be found at http://www.organdonation.nhs.uk. Information on the RVH Liver Support Group is available at http://www.rvhliversupportgroup.org