Irish athletes proud to 'honour the gift' of organ donation with 14 gold medals at European Transplant Games

From left: Anthony Murray, father of athlete Scott Murray; Harry Ward, Transplant Sport Ireland team manager; athlete Rob Sheahan; athlete Scott Murray; and Kevin Sheahan brother of athlete Rob Sheahan.

The Irish team have already claimed 14 gold medals in just the swimming events in the opening days of the European Transplant Games.

The team of 25 athletes have joined more than 1,000 sportspeople at the unique games, which feature competitors who have had organ and stem cell transplants, those on dialysis for kidney disease, and living donors.

Robert Sheahan from Limerick claimed three gold medals in the pool.

He came first in the 50m backstroke on Monday and followed this with gold on Tuesday in the 50m breaststroke and 50m freestyle.

Living with cystic fibrosis, he received the first simultaneous double lung and liver transplant in Ireland in 2019.

“To think that I came through this and am now representing my country,” he said. 

“It is something I'm incredibly proud of."

He began swimming to boost his health, but said: “It has now become a motivation to succeed and honour the gift that was given to me."

Athletes compete in various categories, so the same distance appears more than once in the medal list. 

These include heart and lung transplant survivors, open transplant survivors and dialysis patients.

Waterford man Scott Murray, 17, had five golds by the end of two days of racing.

He claimed gold in the 50m backstroke and 100m freestyle on Monday. 

He followed up with a gold in the 50m breaststroke, 50m freestyle and 100m backstroke on Tuesday.

The singles darts team also had great success on Monday.

Marie O’Connor from Lahinch in Clare won gold, Tom O’Reilly from Ballyfermot in Dublin won silver.

And Edelle Collins from Castleknock, also in Dublin, who was competing at her first games, took the bronze medal.

A spokeswoman for Transplant Sports Ireland said: “Well done to all our competitors for your heroic efforts today.

“It’s not all about medals. The real celebration must come from the fact that you are here.” 

The athletes are, she said “celebrating the gift of life through sport and above all honouring your donor, thus showcasing the power of organ donation". 

Also on the team is Mairead O’Mahony, from Berrings near Cork City, marking 29 years next month since having a bone marrow transplant during leukaemia treatment.

One of Ireland’s most successful transplant athletes, she holds the World Transplant Games record in the 800m race.

She used to run with Blarney Inniscarra Athletic Club before becoming ill in her late teens.

“Joining Transplant Sport Ireland I felt that I was reconnecting with something I loved so much, which was taken from me on my cancer diagnosis,” she said.

“I was so excited to potentially achieve some of the dreams which, as a 17-year-old, I thought were gone forever.” 

The games are being held in Arnhem in the Netherlands between now and Saturday.

Other sports to come include tennis, triathlon, badminton, a 5k mini-marathon, table tennis and walking football.