Hundreds of athletes from across Europe have come together for a sporting event where simply reaching the starting line can mean far more than winning a medal.
The European Transplant Games in Arnhem brought together around 600 people, including organ and stem-cell transplant recipients, people receiving dialysis, living donors and donor families.
And while there were medals to be won, the Games were really a celebration of something much bigger: life, recovery and the extraordinary gift of a second chance.
More Than a Sporting Competition
For many competitors, taking part represents a journey that once might have seemed impossible.
Among them was Edelle Collins, who received a double lung transplant in 2021 and later required dialysis three times a week. At her first Transplant Games, she competed in darts — and went home with a bronze medal.
But perhaps even more importantly, the experience gave her the confidence to consider trying other sports in the future.
That sense of possibility is at the heart of the Games.
Participants meet others who understand the physical and emotional journey of transplantation, forming friendships and discovering just how much life can still have to offer.
Celebrating the People Who Make Second Chances Possible
The Games aren’t only about transplant recipients.
Living donors and the families of organ donors are an enormously important part of the event too.
Among those competing was 70-year-old Brendan Coleman, who donated a kidney to his son and participated in the Games as a living donor.
Donors and donor families receive some of the biggest cheers of the entire event, and some transplant recipients have even chosen to give their medals to donors or members of donor families as a way of saying thank you.
Because behind every transplant statistic is a human story.
There is a recipient being given another opportunity at life, medical teams making extraordinary things possible, and donors and families whose decisions can change another person’s future forever.
Everyone Has Already Won
There will always be winners, finishing lines and medals at a sporting competition.
But the European Transplant Games demonstrate that success doesn’t always fit neatly onto a podium.
Sometimes success is being able to run again.
Sometimes it’s discovering the confidence to try something you never thought possible.
Sometimes it’s meeting someone who understands exactly what you’ve been through.
And sometimes, simply being there is the greatest victory of all.
At these Games, the medals may be gold, silver and bronze — but every competitor carries something considerably more valuable: a second chance at life. ❤️
Source: Reasons to be Cheerful
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