Mountains have been climbed this Organ Donation Week.  Literally, in some cases, to raise attention to the transplant gifts that have transformed lives and the need to make it possible for many more.

Slieve Donard is the highest peak in the Mourne Mountains and, at a height of 850 metres (2,789 ft), the highest mountain in Northern Ireland.   Transplant Sport Northern Ireland was represented alongside many other members and supporters from various NI transplant charities who enjoyed last year’s walk up the mountain so much they did it again.  “Turn the Peak pink” may become an annual event here (depending on weather!).

Others gathered in the concourse of Belfast’s Grand Central Station for a virtual cycle to Dublin.  The event brought partners together from the Public Health Agency and Translink, NI’s public transport provider, sharing stories of donation and transplantation with the many commuters passing through the station.

Belfast City Mayor (L), Health Minister (2nd fr rht), and Dáithí Mac Gabhann (front), still on the waiting list for a heart transplant

Across the UK, the call was to “Turn the skies pink”, remembering over 400 people who died last year waiting for an organ transplant that didn’t come, and raising awareness of the importance of talking about organ donation and saving lives.

Over 130 buildings and landmarks were lit up in pink for Organ Donation Week, including hospitals, council buildings, cathedrals, theatres, bridges, towers, shopping malls, sculptures, gardens, town halls, cinemas, even the BT tower in London and a windmill in Lytham.

If you’ve been part of any of that, thank you.  If you’ve given attention to any of the many related posts on social media this week, thank you.  If you’ve followed any of our posts on Live Loudly Donate Proudly, thank you – especially if you paused to read before you clicked, and skipped them along a bit further by sharing them.

And, if you’ve spoken with your family about your decisions, or helped those conversations happen somewhere else, thank you.  We can’t all turn buildings pink, cycle a marathon, or climb a mountain, but we can sit down with family and friends and include organ donation in a conversation.  And saving a life may start just there.

There’s always gonna be another mountain, as the song goes…

There are currently over 8,000 people waiting for a life-saving organ transplant in the UK.  More than 3,800 people are temporarily suspended from the list because they are either currently unfit for transplant or temporarily unavailable. That’s almost 12,000 people living with the daily uncertainty of whether or not their lives may be saved.

Some are on dialysis, some even daily, for whom a kidney transplant would mean new life. That gift could come from a living donor.  Living donors now account for over 40% of all organ donations with a 6% increase in people donating a kidney or part of their liver.

There are more mountains to climb.  In June this year, the NHS launched a call for one million people to become active blood donors.  More than 5,000 donations are needed every day.  It is the easiest and fastest lifesaving donation.  Some go further, donating plasma, or sign up to be stem cell donors.  Simple and miraculous ways to make a world of difference for someone else and their families.

Always gonna be another…

Those mountains are being climbed by commitment – fueled by gratitude for the kindness of others.  Gratitude for lives saved, lives transformed, for the donors, their families and all those who care and make it happen.

If you are a donor already, or willing to be one should circumstances conspire so, then be very proud.  Be loud about it. Don’t hide it away. Tell someone, anyone, but always tell your family and help them support your decision should that day ever come.

Thank you for all your kindness.

PS: Harry, whose story was told by his Mum, Clare, on Tuesday’s blog this week, went along to the BBC Shropshire Make a Difference Awards on Friday and was given the Young Hero Award for his passion for promoting organ donation.  Congratulations Harry!  There’s a mountain climber…

“Dia daoibh, is mise Lucia Quinney Mee.
Tá mé 17, is snámhóir, damhsóir, iníon léinn A-Leibhéil, feachtasóir, agus faighteoir trasphlandaithe ae trí huaire mé…”

Or, for those of you (us) not up to reading Gaeilge, Irish Gaelic –

“Hello, my name is Lucia Quinney Mee.
I am 17, I am a swimmer, a dancer, an A Level student, a campaigner, and a three-time liver transplant recipient….”

That was Live Loudly Donate Proudly’s Lucia, opening a presentation to a Northern Ireland Department of Health workshop in January 2017.  We should say that Lucia didn’t give her presentation in Irish.  But she would be astonished to see her whole presentation has now been translated into Irish.  Immeasurably more thrilled to see it included in the education and awareness pack available to all secondary schools in Northern Ireland.  (Download them from www.organdonationni.info/schools/key-stage-3-4.)

The materials have been prepared with passion and sensitivity by a group of teachers and others directly affected by organ donation and were formally launched on 17th September, last week, with the support of the Ministers from the Department of Health and the Department of Education.    The launch was hosted in Forthill Integrated College, Belfast, by Ciara Hunter, a teacher of English in the school, along with some of her students.

Ciara’s sister Clare died in 2020 from a brain injury, aged just 32.  The family were suddenly faced with a conversation they had never had before, considering giving their consent to donate Clare’s organs to save other lives.  Since then, Ciara has used her experience to help the team create these lessons for secondary school students.

“While we all hope and pray they’re never in the situation I was in, or God forbid their families are in that situation, by even just teaching these resources a student can go home and say: ‘We learned about this today’.  It just opens those doors to have those conversations.”

The last words, from Lucia’s presentation to the Health Department:

“…Tá an feachtas Live Loudly Donate Proudly tiomanta do na hacmhainní a chruthú agus a chur i bhfeidhm ar churaclam na scoile, ionas go bhfoghlaimeoidh gach duine óg faoi dheonú orgán. Tá súil againn go n-athróidh sé seo an dearcadh ar dheonú orgán, agus go dtosóidh daoine ag amharc air mar ghnáthrud – ní mar eisceacht.
Gnáthchomhrá as a dtagann bronntanas dóchreidte.
Go raibh maith agaibh.”

“…The Live Loudly Donate Proudly campaign is committed to creating the resources and implementing this on the school curriculum, so that every young person learns about organ donation. We hope that this will change the perception of organ donation, and it will begin to be seen as the norm – not the exception.
An ordinary conversation that leads to an extra ordinary gift.
Thank you.”

Today’s contribution to our Organ Donation Week series was kindly gifted by Andy Prigg who we met at this year’s Transplant Games.  Andy is an outstanding competitor, and generously committed, as you’ll read below, to living his gratitude for organ donation…

“Ad astra per aspera”

These words are engraved on the ring I wear every single day. Since June 5th, 2024, it has never left my hand. Around my neck, I also carry a silver chain with a small sapling and the same date engraved.

There is both irony and meaning in this.

The irony:

• I never connected with languages at school. French in primary school felt alien, Spanish in secondary only slightly better. Somehow, I scraped through my GCSE – thanks in no small part to my family who rewatched old films with Spanish subtitles on repeat the week before my exam! Latin would have been my nightmare – indecipherable. Yet here I am, living each day by a Latin phrase.
• I also never wore jewellery. I didn’t see the point, and it didn’t feel like me. But now, this ring and necklace are a part of me – a quiet reminder I carry everywhere.

The meaning:

“Ad astra per aspera” translates roughly as “To the stars through hardships.”

For me, those words hold layers of significance. They remind me daily of the incredible gift I’ve been given through organ donation, and of the journey that has shaped me.

• Hope. To reach the stars, one must first endure hardship. Organ donation is about hope – for the 8,000 people in the UK currently waiting for a transplant, and for families who say yes to donation at the hardest moment of their lives. Hope is what carries us through.
• Perspective. Whenever I face struggles, I remind myself that my hardships are small compared with what donor families have gone through, or the weight of waiting for a call that might never come. My ring grounds me in that reality.
• Gratitude. This jewellery is more than metal – it’s a visible symbol of sacrifice, love, and second chances. It’s a connection to my donor and their family, whose generosity changed my life.

What organ donation means to me

On June 5th, 2024, I received a combined liver and kidney transplant. I was born with a rare cystic kidney disease, which meant hospital visits, uncertainty, and limitations shaped much of my childhood and young adult life. That all changed the day I was given my transplant.

Being on the transplant waiting list was one of the hardest chapters of my life. It felt like everything was on pause — I couldn’t plan ahead, I couldn’t fully live. Nights were sleepless, full of worry. What made it so strange was that I dreaded the phone call that could save me. I feared my own mortality at such a young age, but I also knew that for me to get ‘the call’, it meant another family would be going through the darkest night of their lives. Living with that knowledge was heavy, and it shaped who I became. But coming through it with my transplant has reframed my identity — I’ve learned resilience, empathy, and the importance of never taking life for granted.

Organ donation gave me a new lease of life – quite literally. I can do things I couldn’t before.

There are also the small, almost silly milestones that meant the world to me. About a month after the transplant, still sore and moving slowly, I took the dogs for a walk for the very first time. I was in pain, yes, but for the first time I felt like I was getting my life back. Another moment was the first night I ever slept through without needing to get up for a wee, something I’d never experienced before my transplant. It seems small, but that night I realised just how different life could be.

First family holiday ( a year after transplants – hiking in Norway)

Me and my Nan walking on my 22nd (Just shy of a year from the transplants) (see dog mentioned!)

My gratitude extends in many directions:

• To my donor and their family – for saying yes in a moment of unimaginable grief.
• To my family – who supported me through every appointment, setback, and long night.
• To my clinicians, especially my nephrologist – whose care, skill, and belief in me made this second chance possible.

Looking ahead

This experience has reshaped who I am and who I want to become.

• As a person, my hope is simple: to be kind, caring, and to make the most of the life I’ve been gifted.
• As a future doctor, I want to support both recipients and donor families. I hope to train as a transplant surgeon and to carry forward the legacy of those who give the gift of life.
• In research and education, I want to contribute to better understanding and awareness. For example, I’m passionate about introducing a national module on organ donation and transplantation into medical education – because every doctor should know about this, and every patient should benefit from that knowledge.

Me in the Library on placement ( I spend a lot of time here!) See necklace.

Organ donation is not just about saving lives – it’s about transforming them. My story is just one example of the ripple effect a single act of generosity can create.

This Organ Donation Week, I want to encourage everyone to have the conversation, to make your wishes known, and to support the incredible work of charities and campaigns like Live Loudly Donate Proudly.

Because through hardship, we can reach the stars.

And thanks to organ donation, I’ve been given the chance to chase mine.

A few days ago, we sat in an airport with two great friends of ours, about to say goodbye to one of them who was on her way back to her family in Canada.

They are both from El Salvador and spent a year and a half volunteering here, just over twenty years ago. They worked with Corrymeela, a community engaged in matters of peace and reconciliation and, during their time in Northern Ireland, we provided a family home for them to escape to when they needed a break.

Lucia, and her big sister Alice, were the star attractions of our family. No Salvadoran missed out on their hugs, and the fun and chaos with growing children added some normality, even respite, to a world dealing with matters of conflict and social tension.

When the hurricane of Lucia’s autoimmune condition suddenly and unexpectedly disrupted all our lives, our Salvadoran friends stayed firmly with us, and remain so today, with genuine solidarity and support.

Our chat in the airport came at the end of a week of catching up with friends, and finding ourselves in new networks with others, from Spain and Chile. A brief period for a coffee before one of them went through the departure gates for her transatlantic flight.

Our conversation was a mixture of memories, old and new, and hopes of making more memories together in the future. It was threaded with laughter, with other emotions never far away.

Somewhere in there, we spoke of a good friend who had died the day before. The conversation turned to thoughts of cultural differences around funerals, burial and cremation.  We moved easily into our own ideas and preferences, and the matter of organ donation.

One of our friends had been present at last week’s launch of new materials for schools about organ donation (Saturday’s blog to come) and spoke of how the challenges and benefits of organ donation were so readily taken up by children and young people. Their natural thoughts about how to help, to support, and to encourage and inspire others, if given space, often seem to spread easily through friends and peers, and back to the family home.

Someone asked if this was an appropriate conversation topic for our moment, with one friend about to leave and another navigating her own experiences with serious health conditions. The ready response was yes. It was a natural and easy discussion for us all. Exactly as Live Loudly Donate Proudly attempts to promote.  Ordinary conversations that can sometimes lead to extraordinary gifts.

A coffee conversation.  How many more of these can be opened this week…?

The blog for today was very kindly provided by Kathryn,  member of Transplant Sport NI , and former swim team member with Live Loudly Donate Proudly’s Lucia.  (We weren’t there this time but, if you listened carefully, you might have heard some distant cheering…)

The saying ‘Team work makes the dreamwork’ can be overused at times however it became ever so apparent at the recent World Transplant Games held in Dresden, Germany…

As ‘our wee country’ walked into Dresden’s newly refurbished Heinz-Steyer Stadium and were announced as ‘Northern Ireland’ for the first time, I couldn’t help but have a tear in my eye. This was a historic milestone for Transplant Sport Northern Ireland (TSNI) as we competed for the first time as an official member country at the World Transplant Games. There were tears too as we remembered friends and team-mates who are no longer with us, but were such part of our journey to this point.

The World Transplant Games offer a global platform to express our gratitude to our donors, to celebrate our second chances, and to highlight the lifesaving impact of organ and tissue donation.

During the week, 22 transplanted athletes and 5 Living Donor athletes saw hours of training and preparation pay off as they ran, swam, swung, aimed, threw, walked and jumped their way to winning 18 Gold, 9 Silver and 8 Bronze medals for their country. Medals are amazing but even more special are the PBs, the goals met, and the friendships made – nothing can replicate that feeling.

As a collective of like-minded people, but who have been on their own deeply personal journeys and overcome extraordinary health challenges, the special bonds made through competing together will last a lifetime. Each and every one showcasing the best of humanity, the miracle of transplantation – cheering on, laughing and crying together through sport’s elations and disappointments. Emotions were tangible, stories related, and friendships were formed.

The NI teams’ camaraderie, resilience, and determination through the week embodies the spirit of sport and the transformative impact of organ and tissue donation.

As one of our experienced athletes summed up their experience;
“TSNI is a special club in which every member has earned their stripes, with scars displayed with pride. The teams behind the scenes – surgeons, consultants, nurses, doctors, donor families, friends, coaches, volunteers, physios, the structure on which athletes depend on… we salute you all…Organ donation just makes sense!

By competing in Dresden, the NI team honoured the heroes behind every donation, and did Northern Ireland proud on the world stage – each and everyone a true ambassador for NI!

Almost exactly one year ago we posted a story about Harry, a young friend of ours who, with his family, was waiting for news of a possible transplant.  We are delighted to be able to post this update from Harry’s mum, Clare…

It’s 6:30pm on Thursday 31st July 2025. The event is the opening ceremony of the British Transplant Games (BTG). The location is the grounds of Blenheim Palace (just outside Oxford)… More than a thousand athletes aged just 2 upwards. One group of children and young people are sitting in a circle, catching up and waiting for the parade of athletes. There’s a gap just big enough for one more to slide in…

Harry (2nd from rht) with his BCH teammates

This is the award winning Birmingham’s Courageous Heroes’ (BCH) team. Like all the BTG competitors they have received life saving transplants. Each of these children has spent significant time in hospital. Each has to take medication to keep their donated organs working. Each has fought hard to regain the health that most of us take for granted.

We (Clare, Simon, Harry and his younger brother Sam) missed BTG 2024 as we were in hospital that very weekend. In fact, we spent 6 weeks between our local hospital and Birmingham Children’s Hospital last summer after months of illness. Whilst our BCH friends were preparing for last year’s Donor Run (an amazing 2.5/5km event in memory, thanks and recognition of donors including living donors), we were on a Teams call being told that Harry, aged 13, needed a 3rd liver transplant.

I can’t begin to describe how we felt hearing those words. It’s a bit like the whole world suddenly tipping on its axis. It’s impossible to describe. So I’m not going to try.

The call came a few months later. The surgery was long and complicated, and the recovery was slow. We spent Christmas on Ward 8, where our wonderful doctors and nurses spoilt us all. It was pretty magical with a borrowed tree, fairy lights and lots of presents. After 5 weeks we made it home, and (just 2 months later) Harry returned to school.

His resilience and determination over the past 18 months has astounded us all. Throughout those weeks and months, Harry kept BTG right at the front of his mind. It was his goal to return. Having competed at 7 previous Games (including Liverpool 2016 just 5 months after his 2nd transplant), he was desperate to be back. He worked hard at regular Physio appointments with Jemma – who had a real investment in him as she is the BCH Team Manager!

So… that Thursday in August. The BCH team were gathered together. The gap was a perfect Harry sized space. He slid in and it was like he’d never been away.

And it was the same for Simon, Sam and me. The Games Family (capitals on purpose!) is so very special. So many hugs, so many smiles. Catching up on everyone’s news. Seeing how the young people had grown! We also met the new team members. And, of course, we remembered those who are no longer with us.

Harry isn’t a runner, but he’s a speedy swimmer. He’d only been allowed back in the pool 4 weeks before BTG, but he trained hard. His BTG highlight was Saturday morning where he competed in two 50m races and the relay. He felt the whole crowd behind him – and came home with a Silver medal in backstroke. Whilst the BTG message is all about encouraging participation and a healthy lifestyle after transplant, a bit of bling is always well received. Harry’s still smiling several weeks on.

The Donor Run on the Saturday evening was (as always) an event full of joy, hope and positivity. Humbling for those of us who are there as supporters. Even more emotional for us as a family as we paid tribute to Harry’s 3rd donor. Their family’s brave and heroic decision in the midst of loss gave Harry his future.

Returning to BTG, seeing our Games Family, watching the young people thrive…I’m (again) struggling to find the words, but in a good way. So I’ve asked Harry to describe how he feels about this. It’s simple:
BRILLIANT!!

Harry (106), with BCH teammate (also Harry!)

Organ donation awareness week.  Seven days to increase the profile of organ donation and its benefits. Seven days to provide accurate information, stories, and encouragement to begin and multiply ordinary conversations that can lead to that extraordinary gift of life.

And on Day One we’d like to say something that may be a little unexpected, even counter intuitive. We’re not here to persuade anyone to say yes; it’s a personal choice…

Our bodies are our own. We are taught that, or should be, from our first day to our last. Taught that others have no rights over our physical or mental integrity. We may need to assert that too often for comfort, to defend that right, even vigorously, legally, and some more often than others. But defend it we should, for ourselves and for others.

Organ donation is no different.  Our bodies, our health, our choice. And should circumstances coincide to make it possible for us to become donors, in life or death, our choice is to be respected and honoured.

If our choice is to say no, to opt out, it will be kept sacred by the medical teams.

If our choice is to say yes it can become a little more complicated.  That’s when others have a say.  Whatever we have chosen, or implied by our silence (the law in UK now presumes most people to be potential organ donors unless stated otherwise), our families will be included in the decision.  No UK medical team will go ahead with organ donation against the wishes of the family.

It is important to let people know what our choice would be. There is evidence that in most cases where the decision of a loved one is clear and known, the family are more ready and able to allow donation to go ahead.

Where a person’s decision is unknown it is not so easy. Many families, when faced with that choice for the first time, and in the full face of unexpected family bereavement, are more likely to say no. The reasons are easily imaginable. They will, and should be, respected.

That’s why this week encourages those conversations about choice when they can be less stressful, less urgent, and can be discussed as much as necessary over the kitchen table, or anywhere else a conversation can be given time and space to be heard and honoured.

And, although we would prefer all our answers to the question about being a donor to be yes for countless reasons that we, and others, will be reinforcing this week, the bottom line is that the choice remains ours.

It’s a gift of immense value to say yes. But it’s ok to say no. So whatever your choice may become, please talk about it with your family.  Talk about it again if your decision changes. It may be a kindness that will help them.  Your choice. Thank you for giving it your time and attention…