ANTRIM'S senior footballers are to line out in bespoke pink jerseys in support of the Donate4Dáithí campaign as they take on Armagh this Sunday.
Th Ulster Championship tie at the Athletic Grounds in Armagh will see both teams showcase the invaluable contribution of organ donation.
It comes after Ballymurphy's Dáithí Mac Gabhann and his campaigning family celebrated last week's news that the Assembly will begin the legislative process for a soft opt-out system for organ donation.
Four-year-old Dáithí was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, and now requires a heart transplant. His family set up the Donate4Dáithí campaign to raise awareness of organ donation.
Almost 49 per cent of of people in the North have joined the NHS Organ Donor Register, with around nine out of 10 people supporting organ donation.
Unfortunately, there are around 115 people on the transplant waiting list here, and sadly each year around ten to 15 people die awaiting their organ transplant and their gift of life.
Máirtín Mac Gabhann, Dáithí's father, said: “Nothing could have prepared us for hearing the words that a heart transplant would be Dáithí’s very last chance at life. No other options. So we wait. And wait. And wait.
“It fills our family with pride that Antrim, Armagh and Ulster GAA are helping our campaign spread awareness of organ donation. The GAA is central to our lives and we understand the power of the GAA community. We hope that this will encourage more people to join the organ donor register and to just help normalise the talk around organ donation in our society. Awareness of organ donation saves lives, and we hope it will help save our Dáithí’s.”
As avid Antrim supporters the Mac Gabhann family have forged a special relationship with the Gaels in the county, and will don their new pink jerseys ahead of Sunday's throw-in.
Alongside the Antrim footballers, the Armagh team have also lent their support, with both sides being actively involved in promotion in the lead-up to Sunday’s eagerly anticipated game.
