Several hundred people have attended an event in Galway to promote and acknowledge organ donation.
The gathering took place at the Circle of Life garden in Salthill.
The public park was designated as the National Organ Donor Commemorative Garden in 2014.
It serves as a place where both donors and transplant recipients are remembered.
The initiative came about as a result of the efforts of a Connemara family, whose son died in a traffic collision in 2006.
Éamonn Goggin's organs were donated following his death. On what would have been his birthday, his parents, Martina and Denis, invited donor families and those who had benefited from transplants to join in a celebration of the tenth anniversary of the opening of the garden.
Among those who travelled was Gillian Curtis, from Co Kildare. She explained how she had a heart transplant in 2019, a procedure which has changed her life.
"Just doing everything, I’m doing sports now, which I never did, it’s just amazing and being here then, today, is very emotional, you know… it puts everything in perspective," she said.
It was a poignant day too for Mary and Mike McHugh, whose daughter Jayne died just weeks ago, in February. Her organs have been donated to four different people.
"It’s hard to believe her heart is beating somewhere else, but it is," said her mother, with dad Mike adding: "I think it’s appropriate, we’re in the Circle of Life Garden, in Salthill, and there’s no death without life, that’s the circle.
"Jayne has ensured that the lives four other people are immeasurably better and at least they now have a chance, so it is a comfort."
Martina Goggin said today’s event offered transplant beneficiaries a chance to express their gratitude, while also providing a chance for donor families to recollect their loved ones and the impact they had on the lives of strangers.
Her husband, Denis, said the garden had been created out of love and aimed to be a space that would provide healing and hope to those visiting there.
Located opposite the Promenade in Salthill, the garden features rocks brought from every county, to symbolise the act of organ donation and the far-reaching consequences it brings. The calm oasis is a favourite stop for many locals, as well as visitors to the seaside resort.
Speaking at today’s event, the Director of Organ Donation Transplant Ireland, Dr Brian O’Brien, said the new Human Tissue Act was a welcome development. It will mean that consent for donation is assumed, unless a person expresses a desire not to donate organs, while alive.
But Dr O’Brien said it was always worthwhile for families to have conversations about what each individual’s preference was, when it came to organ donation.
He said such discussions were always beneficial and encouraged people to have those talks.
