{"id":1784,"date":"2025-09-28T16:55:23","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T16:55:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/live-loudly-donate-proudly.org\/?p=1784"},"modified":"2025-09-28T16:55:23","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T16:55:23","slug":"always-gonna-be-another-mountain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/live-loudly-donate-proudly.org\/index.php\/2025\/09\/28\/always-gonna-be-another-mountain\/","title":{"rendered":"“Always gonna be another mountain…”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mountains have been climbed this Organ Donation Week.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

Slieve Donard is\u00a0the highest peak in the Mourne Mountains and, at a height of 850 metres (2,789 ft), the highest mountain in Northern Ireland.\u00a0\u00a0 Transplant Sport Northern Ireland<\/span><\/span><\/span> 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.\u00a0 “Turn the Peak pink” may become an annual event here (depending on weather!).<\/p>\n

\"Slieve<\/p>\n

Others gathered in the concourse of Belfast’s Grand Central Station\u00a0for a virtual cycle to Dublin.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

\"GrandBelfast City Mayor (L), Health Minister (2nd fr rht), and D\u00e1ith\u00ed Mac Gabhann (front), still on the waiting list for a heart transplant<\/em><\/h6>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot\"<\/p>\n

If you’ve been part of any of that, thank you.\u00a0 If you’ve given attention to any of the many related posts on social media this week, thank you.\u00a0 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\u00a0along a bit further by sharing them.<\/p>\n

And, if you’ve\u00a0spoken with your family about your decisions, or helped those conversations happen somewhere else, thank you.\u00a0 We can’t all turn buildings pink,\u00a0cycle a marathon, or climb a mountain, but we can sit down with family and friends and include organ donation in a conversation.\u00a0 And saving a life may start just there.<\/p>\n

There’s always gonna be another mountain, as the song goes…<\/p>\n

There are currently over 8,000 people waiting for a life-saving organ transplant in the UK.\u00a0 More than\u00a03,800 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.<\/p>\n

Some\u00a0are on dialysis, some even daily, for whom a kidney transplant would mean new life. That gift could come\u00a0from a living donor.\u00a0\u00a0Living donors now account for over 40% of all organ donations with a 6% increase in people donating a kidney or part of their liver.<\/p>\n

There are more mountains to climb.\u00a0 In June this year, the NHS launched a call for one million people to become active blood donors.\u00a0 More than 5,000 donations are needed every day.\u00a0 It is the easiest and fastest lifesaving donation.\u00a0 Some go further, donating plasma, or sign up to be stem cell donors.\u00a0 Simple and miraculous ways to make a world of difference for someone else and their families.<\/p>\n

Always gonna be another…<\/p>\n

Those mountains are being climbed by commitment – fueled by gratitude for the kindness of others.\u00a0 Gratitude for lives saved, lives transformed, for the donors, their families and all those who care and make it happen.<\/p>\n

If you are a donor already, or willing to be one should circumstances conspire so, then be very proud.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

Thank you for all your kindness.<\/p>\n

PS:\u00a0Harry, 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\u00a0given the Young Hero Award for his passion for promoting organ donation.\u00a0 Congratulations Harry!\u00a0 There’s a mountain climber…<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mountains have been climbed this Organ Donation Week.\u00a0 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\u00a0the highest peak in the Mourne Mountains and, at a height of 850 metres (2,789 ft), the highest mountain in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/phtpid-sM","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/live-loudly-donate-proudly.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/live-loudly-donate-proudly.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/live-loudly-donate-proudly.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-loudly-donate-proudly.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-loudly-donate-proudly.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1784"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/live-loudly-donate-proudly.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1784\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1801,"href":"https:\/\/live-loudly-donate-proudly.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1784\/revisions\/1801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/live-loudly-donate-proudly.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-loudly-donate-proudly.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-loudly-donate-proudly.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}