Johnstown woman in race to create awareness of kidney exchange initiative

A YOUNG Navan woman will be one of the riders in a charity race at the Punchestown Festival at the end of the month.

Cliona Costello, who lives in Johnstown will take part in the charity race on the last day of the festival on 30th April.

Cliona and the rest of the amateur jockeys in the race will be riding to raise funds for the Punchestown Kidney Research Fund.

“I also hope to raise awareness of the Paired Kidney Exchange scheme,” she says.

Cliona’s dad, John Costello, received a donor kidney last October. The transplant, which took place in Belfast, was a part of a paired exchange and Cliona's mum, Grainne, in turn donated a kidney to a stranger.

“It is a great scheme and without it Dad would now be on dialysis,” she says.

“Not many people are aware of the programme, so this will help make people aware of it.”

Her dad is the third member of his family to have a kidney transplant.

“My uncle had been on dialysis for years before he had a kidney transplant from a deceased stranger three years ago.

“My grandad, the horse trainer, Tom Costello also had a kidney transplant, but it failed and he was on dialysis until he died in 2009.

“Horses are in my family generally so that is why this fundraiser is such a good fit,” she says.

Cliona's dad had not been on dialysis, but his kidney function had been down to eight per cent when he had the operation.

“He would be on dialysis by now, if he hadn’t had the transplant.”

He couldn’t find a suitable match within the family and it could have been a very long wait for a kidney if it hadn't been for the paired transplant.

Cliona's Mum donated a kidney to a suitable match, so that her dad could in turn receive one from a suitable match.

“The transplant was a huge success for all parties and has had life changing effects for the recipients,” she says.

The paired kidney scheme is a British initiative, so the surgery took place in Belfast.

“Dad had his surgery on 8th October and Mum on the 10th October. Within four to five days, Mum was back to normal. “Dad had an infection but within a few weeks, he was a new man. They are both doing great and life is back to normal.”

Cliona, who works in Research and Development at Meade Farm in Lobinstown, is looking forward to the race.

“I'm not a jockey, but I grew up riding horses. My dad reared horses. One was Best Mate which won three Gold Cups.

“I used to compete in show jumping when I was younger, but never held a jockey's licence. “For the purpose of the race, all of us had to pass an assessment to take part and all of us are racing to raise funds for the one cause.”

Cliona is in training for the event.

“I'm trying to do some gym work and I ride out at Noel Meade's stables on a Wednesday morning.

“I also try to ride out when I go home to my parent's home in Clare at the weekend.”

Cliona has launched a GoFundMe page to raise funds and all the money raised by Cliona and the Punchestown Kidney Research Fund this year will go towards a peer exchange programme which aims to support the mental health of transplant and dialysis patients on their journey.

She points out that one in eight people aged over 50 in Ireland has chronic kidney disease.

“It is projected to become the fifth leading cause of premature death globally by 2040.

“You are three times more likely to need an organ donation than to give one,” she says.