IT’S BEEN a momentous year for Dundee double amputee Ronnie McIntosh.
He was selected by the Scottish Government to present the Scottish Communities Cup to Kilmarnock at the Hampden Park final in March, he has been one of only nine to carry the Olympic torch in Dundee in June and received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Dundee Sportsman’s Dinner in September.
On top of all his achievements in 2012 Ronnie was fitted with new prosthetic legs and he capped the year off with presenting a disability sports award at a glittering Glasgow awards ceremony this month.
But Ronnie never forgets that none of this would have been possible if it was not for the selfless act of the person who donated their kidney to him.
That is why this Hogmanay Ronnie is urging people to sign up to the Organ Donor Register and make it their 2013 new year’s resolution.
“Without a shadow of a doubt, all of my successes this year are down to the sheer power of the gift of organ donation,” the 62-year-old said.
“Without that supreme gift that I was so fortunate to receive in 2009 none of what I have managed to achieve would ever have been possible.”
A lifetime member of the city’s Hawkhill Harriers, Ronnie had been an impressive half-marathon runner until the mid-1980s when he received the news that his kidneys were slowly deteriorating and without a donor he would die.
By 2008 gangrene that had set in five years earlier in his legs had become so serious he had to have both limbs amputated at the knee.
Then a year later a perfect match kidney became available and Ronnie has not looked back since.
From setting his own new personal World Record for a 5km race-walk in his own category in 2011 the accolades and honours have rolled in steadily.
“My only regret is the fact that my donor family are totally oblivious to what I have been so very fortunate to achieve,” Ronnie said.
“Without a doubt, without it I probably wouldn’t be living now. That’s my last lifeline now. It was a godsend.”
Ronnie is now pushing for more people to register as donors, whatever their age.
He said: “Ninety-six percent of people are willing to take an organ but only 42% are willing to donate. This is why we are trying to bridge the gap.
“The stumbling block is often people think it’s an age thing but each individual, so long as they are healthy, can donate skin, corneas and organs.
“The oldest person worldwide to donate was 103 and the oldest to receive was 105.”
Ronnie said it is also important to remember that children need donor organs as well.
He said: “Scottish kids needing a kidney transplant have to go to Glasgow on a Sunday night until Thursday for dialysis and then go back to their homes for two days. That’s a horrific existence.”
Ronnie now hopes his experiences have demonstrated the vital importance of organ donation and can inspire people.
“All these events hopefully only goes to prove just how much of a huge difference the gift of organ donation can make to a person’s life, just as it has most certainly done for myself,” he said.
“I would dearly love to think that the other seven extremely fortunate individuals who, like myself, all received the ultimate gift of a donor organ to give them a second chance at life, go on to make the very best of their individual lives.
“All my marvellous 2012 experiences would never have occurred without the marvellous gift of organ donation.”
ksmyth@thecourier.co.uk