The parent of a Killorglin kidney patient is echoing calls from the Irish Kidney Assocation to prioritise kidney patients for a COVID-19 vaccine.
The Irish Kidney Association is advocating for patients to receive the same priority allocation as nursing home residents.
The call comes at the beginning of an organ donation awareness campaign by the association, involving a seven-year-old boy from Dunquin.
Clodagh O’Shea from Killorglin was diagnosed with kidney failure at 5 years old in 2015, before her father donated a kidney to her in 2016.
Clodagh was recently taken out of school by her parents, before the recent outbreak of the virus in the town, as her immune system is weak due to her medication.
Her father Tim says it’d be nice if kidney patients were prioritised for the vaccine as it is a very frightening time.
The call for the prioritisation of kidney patients for a vaccine comes as the association begins an awareness campaign for the importance of organ donation.
The campaign, which is supported by Organ Donation Transplant Ireland, aims to encourage families to take time out over the festive season to discuss their organ donation wishes and light a candle for organ donors and the 2000 plus people in Ireland with organ failure.
This campaign involves seven-year-old kidney patient, Tomás O’Dowd from Dunquin.
Tomás is in need of a kidney transplant, and members of his family are being tested to see if they are suitable donors.
Tomás’ mother Amanda says if that fails, they can only hope that another family, at a time of huge sadness, have the foresight and compassion to think of others and consider organ donation and that Tomás might benefit.
The Irish Kidney Association is encouraging Individuals who wish to support organ donation to carry an organ donor card, permitting Code 115 to be included on their driver’s licence and having the ‘digital organ donor card’ App on their smartphone.
Organ Donor Cards can be obtained by phoning the Irish Kidney Association on 01 6205306 or Free text the word DONOR to 50050. You can also visit the website or download a free ‘digital organ donor card’ APP to your phone.
The public are encouraged to support the work of the Irish Kidney Association and can Freetext KIDNEY to 50300 to donate €4. They can also donate through the Irish Kidney Association’s website.
