A leap of faith for organ donation

A Cavan frontline healthcare worker and former member of the Defence Forces will take a leap of faith this summer when he completes a charity skydive in support of the Irish Kidney Association (IKA) and organ donor awareness.

Michael ‘Bricker’ Wall from Cavan town will take on the skydive challenge at SKYDIVE in Clonbullogue, Co Offaly, on August 8 to raise funds for a cause that is close to his heart.

The funds raised through Bricker’s skydive will go to the IKA's National Kidney Support Centre at Beaumont Hospital, which provides free accommodation and day facilities for kidney patient families who travel to Dublin for renal care.

Bricker, a driver at the HSE-run Doctor on Call facility in Navan, who previously worked as an emergency medical technician with an ambulance service, is living with diabetes and middle-stage chronic kidney disease, and is likely to need a transplant in the future.

The 51 year old’s outlook on life was profoundly shaped by a near-death experience in 2018, when, during the notorious Beast from the East snowstorm, he suffered a severe diabetic episode while outdoors and fell into a coma, only regaining consciousness a few days later in hospital.

“Since then, I don’t take anything for granted,” Bricker said.

“I’m just grateful to be here. People will always hear me saying ‘the glass is always half full’”.

Diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 1999, Bricker has spent the past 27 years managing his condition with daily insulin injections, and more recently, was diagnosed with stage 3 kidney disease, with his kidney function now just over 30%.

He is under the supervision of nephrologist Dr Khilji and nurse Ciara Leddy at Cavan General Hospital, and has made some lifestyle and dietary changes and is taking medication to help slow the progression towards kidney failure.

Bricker served with the Defence Forces from 1994 to 1999, including a UN peacekeeping tour in Lebanon in 1995. His father John, a former Company sergeant with the 29th Infantry Battalion in Cavan/Monaghan, transferred from his native Cork in 1969 to the border where he met Bricker’s mother Kathleen, a Cavan native.

With strong GAA roots, the former county minor footballer previously served as a selector for the Cavan Senior Hurling team as well as coaching Cavan Gaels and Ballyhaise underage teams.

“My father is from Cork, and hurling and football is a part of my family,” said Bricker.

“So, I would say I am a blend of a true Rebel and a Breffni supporter!”

Through his former work with Medicall Ambulance, a private ambulance service, Bricker and his Medicall colleagues regularly transported patients across the country to hospitals for treatment, including individuals attending dialysis sessions in hospitals.

Describing kidney disease as a “silent killer,” Bricker now wants to do something positive that raises awareness and could ultimately help save and improve the quality of other people’s lives.

His colleagues will rally behind him to raise vital funds and shine a light on the life-changing impact of organ donation, as well as the invaluable work of the Irish Kidney Association in supporting kidney patients and their families.

Bricker and his family hope to encourage more people to have conversations about organ donation and to register their wishes.

“Behind every journey is a story,” Bricker explained.

“We meet people at very vulnerable moments in their lives. Some are waiting for that call, the one that could change everything; a transplant...

“Organ donation gives people a second chance,” he continued.

“If my skydive raises awareness and gets even one more person thinking about becoming a donor, and telling their family, it will be worth it."

Bricker is calling on the public to support his skydive challenge on August 8 and help raise awareness and vital funds for the IKA’s National Kidney Support Centre through the online fundraising page www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/11659441.