TWO LIMERICK athletes will be joining teammates from Transplant Sport Ireland at the British Transplant and Dialysis Games.
Trevor Lynch and Tara Madigan will represent Limerick in the Team Ireland squad.
A troupe of 34 athletes from all over Ireland will compete, with 26 adults, five juniors, and three living donors.
Along with the Trevor and Tara, competitors from Cork, Dublin, Galway, and Tipperary will represent Ireland at this year’s games, led by team captain Harry Ward.
Tara, a Castleconnell native, who underwent a liver transplant in 2012, will represent Ireland in the 5km race, the 200m race, and the long jump.
Tara says that her aim of the games is to “show anyone in my position what life can be like after transplant,” she said. “Life can be good.”
Tara is a great-grandaughter of late Limerick hurling legend Mick Mackey.
Cappamore’s Trevor Lynch will also represent Ireland, despite living in Buckinghamshire in the UK with his wife Sue and children Aishling and Kieran.
Trevor received bone marrow transplants in 2014 and 2016 as a treatment for lymphoma.
He will compete in the 5km road race, the 800m, 1500m, and relay races after taking up running following his diagnosis in 2012.
“Taking part in international competitions with Team Ireland is such an important part of my life these days. It provides the motivation to train during the winter months and also helps me maintain a healthy lifestyle and outlook on life.
“I do this to honour my donor and to show that organ donation works,” said Trevor.
Trevor says that, for him, the Games are a stage upon which to show others that a cancer diagnosis doesn’t have to be ‘the end’.
This team will be the biggest Irish team ever to compete at the British event.
The team includes recipients who have had heart, liver, double lung, kidney, and bone marrow transplants.
Transplant Sport Ireland showcases the success of organ donation and transplantation while offering inspiration to those who are newly transplanted or newly diagnosed with organ failure.
Team Ireland athletes have one shared purpose, to highlight the success of organ donation.
