"This is true community."
The Irish Kidney Association has shared that they have received over 4,000 donor card requests – some for multiple cards – since the airing of Orla Tinsley: Warrior on RTÉ on Monday night.
According to a spokesperson from the group, on an average day, they would receive less than 20 requests via either their freetext number or website.
The piece told the story of Tinsley, an avid Cystic Fibrosis campaigner, and her almost nine-month wait on a transplant list in New York, before finally undergoing life-saving surgery last December.
The 31-year-old Kildare native revealed all about her lifelong battle with the disease and how she wanted cameras to capture her gruelling wait for a lung transplant, even though there was a risk she would die while filming.
https://twitter.com/orlatinsley/status/1042545298927702016
https://twitter.com/orlatinsley/status/1042545726176276480
Tinsley first rose to prominence in Ireland when she campaigned for improved services and better access to drugs for people living with Cystic Fibrosis. However, after moving to New York, her health deteriorated when she suffered a bilateral lung collapse.
Having left Ireland to study for a Masters in Creative Writing at Columbia University, she turned 30 in NYC, and, at almost the same time, was put on the list for a double lung transplant there.
Forced to postpone her studies, Orla’s condition deteriorated throughout 2017 and by December she was on life support at New York Presbyterian Hospital.
The documentary sparked a huge reaction online, in which she allowed cameras to chart the crushing lows and dizzying high when she finally received her transplant.
For those of you who wish to watch the documentary, you can do so on the RTÉ Player
here.
And to request a donor card, you can do so via the freetext number (send DONOR to 50050) or via the website
here.
