‘Ducky Deed’ derby celebrates life of former swim coach and lifeguard

The Gift of Life Ducky Deed Swim Derby took place at Aura Leisure Centre Navan on Sunday to mark Organ Donor Awareness Week (20th-27th May) and to celebrate the life of the late Aaron Cantwell, a 20 year old swim coach and lifeguard, who worked there.

Aaron's mother, Naomi Dunleavy, wanted to celebrate the 20 years they had with Aaron by remembering his kindness - and created ‘Ducky Deeds’, his alter ego who encourages people to be kind to one another.

Aaron's last act of kindness which was Ducky’s first Ducky Deed was to save four lives through organ donation when he passed away in 2022. Sunday's Ducky Derby event, brought together Aaron's friends, his parents and brother Adam, organ donor families and transplant recipients.

David Crosby from Kingscourt attended with his wife Katie and two children who had taken swimming lessons with the late Aaron Cantwell.. A few years after David underwent a life saving lung transplant, he caught Covid-19 which left him fighting for his life on a ventilator. While he survived, his kidney function did not recover and he is now receiving dialysis treatment and is on the waiting list for a kidney transplant.

Also attending the Gift of Life Ducky Deed Swim Derby was Michael Cooper from Ratoath with his wife Joanne and son Mícheál. Michael underwent a bone marrow transplant thanks to his donor brother and some years later he found himself in lung failure and because of an organ donor his life was saved through a double lung transplant at the Mater Hospital.

Eddie Flood, the national honorary Chairman of the Irish Kidney Association, and a kidney transplant recipient from Killucan, Westmeath spoke at the event acknowledging the bravery of the Dunleavy Cantwell family in staging such an inspirational and unique event as a tribute to their late son Aaron, while raising organ donor awareness.

Tony Gavigan, from Navan was also pleased to support the Gift of Life Ducky Deed Swim Derby just a month after he competed in the World Transplant Games in Perth Australia, where he won a Silver medal in Golf. Tony underwent a kidney transplant just a few years after his own son became an organ donor following his untimely death as a child.

Peter Heffernan, who underwent a kidney transplant but returned to kidney failure last year presented a Gold medal he had won at the 2015 World Transplant Games and his team t-shirt to Naomi's family.

This year’s Organ Donor Awareness Week campaign is built around the theme ‘Don’t Leave Your Loved Ones in Doubt!’ #LeaveNoDoubt. The key message is that members of the public can play their part in supporting organ donation for transplantation by ensuring that their families are not left in any doubt about their wishes around organ donation. i.e., they make sure to ‘have the conversation’.