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Content Zone
Tue 31-Jul-2001 20:00
More from this writer..
Back of the Nally
Happiness of the Quiet Heroes
"...Each decade has its compensations."
Aughrim is thrust open to the crazy sky. Tony Gartland turns; eyeing the broccoli-topped trees that envelope the sleepy village. He picks up his jacket and angles his way through a centrefold of Wicklow farming's most eligible seventysomethings, towards the changing rooms. His club side, Kiltegan, has just crashed out of the Garden county's Senior Football Championship, 0-13 to 1-5 to a teak-like An Tochar. Thirtysomethings with hairlines retreating back to the eighties. Carved out of local oak. No wonder the festivities were sponsored by the Forestry Service, Coillte.
Tony, previously involved with Baltinglass, has a story. A story that would make most Hollywood directors cry with joy. And in a strange coincidence, down in the village of Rostellan, Midleton, County Cork, the same such story happened to another man, only a few years earlier. This is the story of The Quiet Heroes.
Just as Tony began to take up Gaelic Football in his native county, Daniel McCarthy of Midleton was undergoing a heart transplant. It is 1991. Cork delights at Roy Keane's debut for Ireland and James McCartan devours the open expanses of headquarters to inspire Down to their first night with Sam for twenty-three years. Daniel is lying flat on a bed, staring at a lined ceiling, arms folded. It smells like the Mater Hospital. Between each breath he takes, there are clip clops of nurses' feet outside, skating from room to room. The doctors remind him of football umpires, but they are more forgiving. And you don't have to look behind a post for them. Daniel needs a heart transplant.
Daniel plays football. Not the kind he would like though. He has suffered from a congenital heart defect since he came into the world. He soon discovered that his playground friends could run much faster than he could. Longing to be like his four brothers. He fought it. One balmy summer, he became known as 'Holder Supreme' in his village, pulling, twisting and turning a rope tied to a tree so the skipping craze could last until nightfall. He watched his silhouette as his brothers and sisters hopped and skipped in symphony.
Doubts clouded his mind in that bed, he was swamped. Falling, closing his eyes, falling, nothing to reach for. …..' I saw the football but I couldn't reach it, I just ……..
I opened my eyes and I first glanced upon Doctor Maurice Neligan. I was in tears.
I often saw the man drinking tea and smiling at me, little did I know that he would eventually save my life...'
His father loved GAA. ….' I know you are with me father, up in heaven, I will do this for you, for myself, for Mum. I will try me best in life. I will show people that such transformations of life are possible….' As a child, Daniel was mascot for Gaelic Football games in the locality. He celebrated wins with the rest of the team while in his father's arms, drinking beer from the winner's cup. Daniel had friends who excelled at hurling and football. He longed to have their ability. To enjoy their talents and healthy bodies.
… 'I know I am not ready for adulthood. Help me God, please. I remember the day; the Bishop came to the village. It was decked out with flags. That was such a lovely day. It never lasted though. My heart failure always came back to haunt me. My 21st was a nightmare. Remember? I felt sick. Really sick. I couldn't even attempt to eat my own cake. Dad wasn't there; he had just died of a heart attack. Dad, I know you are with me now. I am going to do this……'
He was told that he was only meant to last a week when born. Today, he is still going and is an example to us all, on how to lead our lives and be thankful for what we have. He is running his own business in Rostellan. He has the stature he craved in the area. He is a community leader. He has won awards and trophies from his local GAA club and a Vintners’ Association award for his public house. He never wastes a moment of his life now. Daniel says he saw death. In that bed, he knew how to die. Yet deep down in his heart, he knew how to live.
He finally got a chance to take to the football field for a local team. He even managed to score the winning goal in the Sevens tournament, playing for Aghada. But what links Daniel and Tony is not just GAA. It's the fact that they are both Olympians.
As Daniel's body healed, he began to find strength and confidence in himself athletically. He had the same ability and physical strengths as his contemporaries; they were just waiting to come out of him. The World Transplant Games were brought about to show that transplant recipients could lead normal healthy lives after organ transplant. The organizers state that through 'participating and playing sports in the Games, the recipients can regain and promote their health and also they can get strength to live by meeting with other recipients from other countries'. Daniel found that strength was already in him and participated in the Amsterdam Games and the European Games in Helsinki. His events included the 5k walk, lawn bowls, ten-pin bowling and badminton. He also received recognition at the last World Transplant Game in Australia in 1997.
The World Transplant Games came about in Portsmouth, England. Founded by Dr.Maurice Slapak, who is a transplant surgeon and the President of World Transplant Games Federation (WTGF). Administration cost of WTGF is covered by the registration fee of 50 U.S. Dollars, paid by each participant of the Games. In addition to the Summer Games, Winter Games were started since 1994 every other year.
Back in Aughrim, Tony consoles his teammates. He is a genial, unsuspecting fellow. Just this month, he, like Daniel before him, has been selected to take part in the World Transplant Games in Kobe, Japan in August. Tony was a fine footballer until hit by ill health. He won minor and Under-21 medals with Baltinglass and was just settling into an adult career with Kiltegan. After years of poor health, it was decided that the only thing that could save his life was a transplant.
To anyone else, any thoughts of a sporting career were over, but not Tony. Just like Corkonian Daniel, he took up athletics and in a short time got among the medals in the 1500 metres in the Wicklow county finals. This year he went one better, taking silver in the same event in Arklow. Earlier this year, Tony competed in the Transplant Olympic Trials and was selected to represent Ireland in the 5k road race and the 1500m in Japan.
Both men have been lucky with their transplants. Unfortunately, it is true that most of the Donor Families lose their loved ones. Daniel has become like a son to his donor family. For every success, there still must be a number of failures. The quiet heroes come from both sides. They must come with bravery and the heart to fulfill their dreams and that's what makes Tony and Daniel all the more special.
Tony will venture out to Japan on for the opening ceremony on the 25th August.
Like San Francisco in the U.S.A., Kobe, the site for the Transplant Games 2001, is known as a lovely town of hills. From it, narrow paths meander up and down the mountain backdrop, quite reminiscent of Wicklow itself. Staring at the Wicklow Mountains as he begins another training run, Tony smiles as he takes his first few paces. He just wants to be happy now. A happy, inspirational Tony Gartland. In another twist of fate of which he might not be aware of, the site for his road race, which is located in the suburban area of Kobe city is called 'Shiawase no Mura'.
The Japanese translation of which, is 'Village for Happiness'.
We wish him the best of luck.
Available from all good bookshops: " My New Heart," by Daniel McCarthy. With a preface by Dr. Maurice C. Neligan Cardiac Surgeon, edited by Suzanne O'Shea, first published by Litho Press Co., Midleton Co. Cork.
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