Offaly organ donor family takes part in Service of Remembrance

An Offaly organ donor family recently attended the recording of the Irish Kidney Association's 37th annual Service of Remembrance & Thanksgiving, which will be broadcast on RTE One and RTE Radio One Extra this Sunday at 11am.

Bringing baskets of Forget-Me-Not flower emblems, the Irish Kidney Association’s symbol of transplantation, to the altar, was Rosie Buckley from Clara, whose late partner of 30 years, Paddy Johnson, was just 59 when he became an organ donor.

The inter-faith service was pre-recorded by Kairos Communications at Newman University Church, St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, for broadcast on RTÉ One and RTÉ Radio 1 Extra (LW252) on Sunday.

The Irish Kidney Association is asking the public to tune into RTÉ and actively participate in this year's virtual service, including the symbolic Service of Light ceremony. It is hoped that in households the length and breadth of the country, and beyond, a candle will be lit in memory of deceased donors who gave the gift of life.

Prior to the global pandemic, the annual event attracted a physical congregation of close to 2,000 people. For the past three years the service has been pre-recorded with a small gathering of participants due to safety issues around Covid-19, particularly for transplant recipients and other vulnerable people.

Twelve families of deceased donors participated in the filming of this year’s service to remember their loved ones who became organ donors following their untimely deaths. Nine transplant recipients who received deceased donors' organs (including heart, lung, liver, kidney, and pancreas) also took part.