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As Father’s Day approaches, a Co. Monaghan father and son are celebrating a milestone that means more to them than most. A decade after donating a kidney to his son Mark, Paul Conlon successfully nominated the Irish Kidney Association (IKA) as the beneficiary this year of their local Inniskeen Annual Charity Walk. The Walk was held on 7th June, helping raise thousands of euros for the IKA’s National Kidney Support Centre major renovation project fundraising appeal that supported his family through his son Mark’s two life-saving transplant journeys.
The family’s gratitude for the support they received is one of the reasons they were keen to fundraise for the IKA’s National Kidney Support Centre at Beaumont Hospital. Now, as the Irish Kidney Association enters the final phase of its €250,000 fundraising campaign for a major renovation of the National Kidney Support Centre, the family hopes their story will encourage others to support the free of charge ‘home away from home’ that has helped numerous kidney patients and their families from across Ireland. The Centre first opened in March 2000 and is located 200 metres away from the hospital entrance. It offers free overnight accommodation and day facilities to kidney patient families from all over Ireland, while loved ones are attending Dublin hospitals for renal care. Funds can be donated at www.supportkidneycentre.ie.
Walking alongside father and son during the recent Inniskeen Charity Walk were Mark’s brother Alan and his mother Patricia Conlon, whose reflections on the day were perhaps the most poignant of all.
As both a wife and a mother, Patricia has experienced two sides of the transplant journey. When Mark was just seven years old, he received a life-saving kidney transplant from a deceased donor, giving him the opportunity to enjoy a normal childhood and adolescence. Fourteen years later, in 2016, when Mark was 22 and had started dialysis treatment, Patricia witnessed another extraordinary act of generosity when her husband Paul, then 53, donated a kidney to their son.
On both transplant occasions, the National Kidney Support Centre provided a home away from home while Patricia’s loved ones underwent treatment just a stone’s throw away at Beaumont Hospital.
It was those experiences that inspired the focus for this year’s Inniskeen Charity Walk, which attracted more than 120 participants and has already raised over €7,000. Organisers are hopeful the final figure will exceed €10,000, with all proceeds going towards the National Kidney Support Centre Appeal.
The family’s connection to the National Kidney Support Centre spans both transplant journeys. Fourteen years before Paul donated a kidney to his son, Mark’s parents stayed at the Support Centre while their son recovered from his first transplant at Temple Street Children’s Hospital, from a deceased donor. Then, when Paul donated a kidney to Mark ten years ago, Mark’s mother Patricia again relied on the Centre while both her husband and son underwent their living donor kidney transplant operations at Beaumont Hospital, just 200 metres away, and in the week of recovery that followed.
“The Support Centre was a lifeline for our family on both occasions,. When your loved ones are in hospital, having somewhere comfortable and supportive nearby makes an enormous difference.”
Patricia Conlon
Today, both Paul and Mark are doing well and continue to share a close bond cemented through their transplant journey. Today, Mark is living life to the full thanks to his transplant. He lives in his own home in Carrickmacross, just a ten-minute drive from his parents, and shares his life with his partner of six years, Naomi. He works part-time in a motor parts department of a car garage and spends much of his free time pursuing his passion for cars. He also enjoys helping his father, who is now semi-retired, with running his small suckler farm. As Father’s Day approaches, Mark will join his father Paul and the rest of the family to celebrate together – something the family never takes for granted.
“The transplant allowed me to get on with life. I have my own home, a job, great support from Naomi and my family, and I’m able to do the things I enjoy. Ten years on, I’m very grateful for the opportunities my father’s kidney donation has given me.”
Mark Conlon
“Seeing Mark living independently, working, enjoying life and planning for the future is exactly what we hoped for when I donated my kidney. Throughout his journey, Mark’s brother Alan and sister Aoife have been a constant source of love and support. As a family, we’ll be together again this Father’s Day, happy and healthy, and that’s something we’ll always be thankful for.”
Paul Conlon
The family also remembers with deep gratitude the deceased donor family whose gift of organ donation gave Mark fourteen healthy years before he needed a second transplant.
“This Father’s Day is particularly special for us. Ten years on, we’re celebrating not just a successful transplant, but the kindness and support that helped our family through some of the most challenging times in our lives. The Irish Kidney Association and its National Kidney Support Centre was part of that journey, and we’re delighted to help ensure it will be there for future families too.”
Patricia Conlon
To support the IKA’s National Kidney Support Centre fundraising appeal visit www.supportkidneycentre.ie.
