THE overall number of Clare people receiving some forms of kidney dialysis treatment at facilities in the Mid-West, has risen to 89, according the the Irish Kidney Association (IKA).

As Organ Donor Awareness Week begins on Saturday (April 23), the IKA has released figures showing that 34 now attend the haemo-dialysis unit at University Hospital Limerick (UHL).

A further 39 people attend Fresenius Medical Care on the Dock Road in Limerick. while seven Clare people travel to the B Braun Wellstone Unit in Galway, as it is closer to home for those patients.

Patients must attend their unit three times a week for four hours of dialysis treatment in order to stay alive.

A total of nine people are currently on the home therapy’s programmes.

Dialysis works as an artificial kidney to remove toxins from the body when a person’s own kidneys can no longer undertake this function.

All these forms of treatment keep the person alive until such time as they receive a kidney transplant. A transplant offers the only hope for patients to return to a normal lifestyle and be free of dialysis.

“Thanks to the generosity of so many organ donors and their families there is a considerable amount of transplant recipients in Clare and indeed throughout the country who are immensely grateful for the great gift such families have given to them,” said Peggy Eustace, chairperson of the Clare branch of the IKA.

“My own son Patrick gave thanks on local media following his successful kidney transplant all of 25 years ago when he said: ‘The gift of a transplant is the greatest gift man can give to mankind’. This it surely is.”

“In gratitude to all organ donors and their families the Clare branch of the IKA’s memorial to all organ donors is now complete in Ennis and we invite all donor families to visit, while transplant recipients come in thanksgiving for the precious Gift they have received.”

Organ Donor Awareness week runs from April 23 to 30.