34th running of Punchestown Kidney Research Fund charity race in Kildare

The 34th running of the Punchestown Kidney Research Fund charity race takes place on Saturday May 3 at the Punchestown National Hunt racing festival in Co. Kildare.

The charity race is the annual curtain raiser to five days of top class horse racing and crowds of over 100,000 are expected to attend this year’s event.

It is expected that the Punchestown Kidney Research Fund will exceed the €2 million mark of funds raised, through this special and unique race.

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Race History

The charity race was started by Kilcullen man James Nolan back in 1990 to raise funds for kidney projects as well as to raise organ donor awareness in Ireland. James had been sick for most of the early years in his life prior to going on to dialysis in 1986.

After getting very ill in 1987, his family were approached to consider one member of his family

donating a kidney. On the July 25 1987 his sister Catherine Doyle gave the greatest gift that any human being can give to another human being when Catherine kindly donated James one of her kidneys and gave him a second chance in life.

Once James returned to full health, he then started the charity race and participated in the first 13 runnings of the event and he was aboard Nero’s Dancer in 2002 to win the race at odds of 50/1.

Supported Projects

During the past three years the PKRF supported the following projects:

- We sponsored and helped the IKA establish a Pilot Peer Support program for all Kidney patients in Ireland. This program offers vital supports to patients and their families who are dealing with all the various issues and concerns that is all part of being a dialysis or transplant patient.

- We established the James Tracy/PKRF/Kidney Beam Exercise program for all dialysis and transplant patients, which will enable all patients to access free, online, live and on demand exercise classes, specifically tailored to all different levels of fitness and specifically for kidney patients.

- We continued our research into Polycystic Kidney Disease in partnership with the Irish Nephrology Society under the guidance of the Irish Research Council.

- We continued our support for our “State Man” art therapy programs for dialysis patients in Tallaght, Waterford & Wexford dialysis units.

- We continued to support sports programmes for dialysis transplant patients.

- Organised a trip to Lourdes for one dialysis patient and a carer.

- We sponsored a new “Kidney App” for kidney patients in association with Dr Donal Sexton at St. James’s Hospital.

The name of the race captures another aspect of what this unique

event is all about – “Have the conversation – say YES to Organ Donation”

James asks families to have the conversation about Organ Donation and leave no one in doubt as to what one’s wished are in the event of an accident. It is much easier for everyone if this conversation is had at home with your family.

The PKRF use the charity race to try to create organ donor awareness in Ireland.