IT'S COMING TO NOTTS!
Photo by British Transplant Games
Transplant what?
If you ask me what I appreciated the most in the weeks after my heart transplant at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital, I would say the conversations with the healthcare staff – particularly with the nurses, kitchen staff and the cleaners.
As I waited patiently week-after-week, for the bright red wound down my chest to heal, these conversations were the sugar to my tea, and made the hospital stay a little more sweeter. They gave me things to look forward to once I entered the big outside world with my newly pumping gift of life. Undoubtedly, it was after one of these conversations, that I put another thing on my “post-transplant bucket list”… the Transplant Games.
I have a dream...
A few weeks post-transplant, a nurse came into the room to do some routine checks, medications, blood pressure, asking if I had had a poop etc. etc., and we started making small talk.
I mentioned how I had a dream to run for more than a minute, and that one of the first things I would do once I regain my health is to "try out" the new heart in a run.
Note: my old heart only permitted me to run about 30 seconds and then boom... queue the breathlessness, a stitch and a sweaty wet back. If I felt a little more ambitious, my abnormal heart rhythm would mute out any background noise, my palpitations would go crazy and I’d feel like I would faint.
Then the nurse says, "So, I guess you must be excited about participating in the Transplant Games at some point!"
I was like, "Come again? Transplant what?"
The nurse proceeded to explain how the Transplant Games were basically the "Olympics" but for transplant recipients. Mind you, this was only a few weeks after my transplant and I was still processing the fact that someone else's heart was beating in my chest. Then, to be told I could potentially become a transplanted version of Mo Farah, yeah I was pretty damn excited.
In fact, I was so excited, that I was over the moon (face).
TRANSPLANT GAMES: Frequently Asked Questions
So what are the British Transplant Games?
A sporting event where transplant recipients run across a track with a cup of Yorkshire Tea in their hand?? (I wish)
The British Transplant Games (BTG) are a 4-day event held in different host cities in the UK each year. Since their start-up over 40 years ago, the BTG have been hosted in many different cities around the UK, including:
Coventry 2023
Leeds 2022
Newport 2019
Birmingham 2018
Newcastle 2015
(See your city? wink wink ) (Check the full list of previous host cities on the BTG website)
Patience
When the BTG 2023 took place in Coventry, I was just over a month post-transplant, and since my sternum wound hadn’t fully healed, I knew I wouldn’t have be able to participate. Gutted.
The transplanted Mo Farah in me would have to wait...
Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet ~ Jean-Jacques RousseauIt's coming to NOTTSSSSSS
When I found out the British Transplant Games 2024 would be held in Nottingham, I was over the moon (face) YET AGAIN.
Why I was so excited to hear this news? Because, insha’Allah, God-willing, this SAME city, this SAME year, will see me cross not just one, but two finish lines.
The first finish line will be Graduation 2024 from the University of Nottingham, and the second finish line will be…well, an actual finish line, as I run alongside other transplant warriors from all over the UK, at the British Transplant Games in Nottingham 2024.
But these aren't just my finish lines.
After my transplant, I made a little promise to myself, that every achievement I pass by the Grace of God, will be in remembrance of my donor who said “yes” to organ donation. So when I walk across the stage on Graduation day, and when I cross the finish line at the Transplant Games, it will be hand-in-hand with the memory of my heart-gifting angel.
Final remarks
In the end, one small conversation can go a long way, and the Transplant Games are just one of the many opportunities to start the conversation about organ donation.
SAVE THE DATE!
At the British Transplant Games, Nottingham, 1st - 4th August 2024, you'll have the chance to hear some heartfelt stories from transplant recipients, their loved ones and donor families, and learn how a "yes" to organ donation has the power to transform lives. Beyond the medal-winning, and cheers to the finish lines, the Games will be the central hub of having that 'heart-to-heart conversation' of organ donation.
Thank you for reading! Keep an eye on the British Transplant Games website (below) for more information about the Games, and I sherwood love to see you there.
The British Transplant Games website (+ video that beautifully sums up the Transplant Games!)
Organ Donation: The Gift That Keeps on Giving
Since we are celebrating Nottingham being selected as the host city for the British Transplant Games 2024, here is one of my favourite photos of Nottingham's stunning Highfield's Park (oh, and a duck)
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