Harry Ward from Baldoyle in Dublin enjoys the unique position of being a much loved Team Manager of Transplant Sport Ireland and also an athlete.
Harry – a happy granddad to Ada and Cúan – attended his first Games in Hungary in 2006 while he was still receiving Dialysis treatment and now competes as a transplant recipient, having received his transplant in 2007.
He captained Team Ireland to the British Transplant Games in Coventry, where they won Winning 15 Gold, 10 Silver and 6 Bronze medals, making it the most successful Transplant team ever to compete in these championships.
The four-day competition welcomed more than 1,200 athletes who are Heart, Lung, Liver, Kidney, Pancreas & Bone Marrow transplant recipients and kidney dialysis patients from all over the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and even Australia. He says: “These Games are all about organ donation and proves how it works.
“So please have the conversation about donating organs with your families.”
Also from Balydoyle were Harry’s neighbours athletes Sam & Ivan Kinahan.
Theirs is a heart-warming story as Dad Ivan donated a kidney to son Sam in June 2019.
This was their first Games experience and Sam competed in the Obstacle Race and the running events. Dad Ivan won a Silver medal in the 100m Living Donor race!
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