Transplant patients from Sheffield scoop huge medal haul at national games

The city sent 11 athletes who had received a kidney at the Northern General Hospital, plus a living donor and the wife of one patient, to compete at the British Transplant Games in Scotland.

Between them, they collected an impressive four gold medals, eight silvers and two bronzes at the annual event, which took place in North Lanarkshire from last Thursday to Sunday.

Bridey Greenway, from Chesterfield, who was taking part in her 14th games since receiving a kidney transplant in 1999, led the medal rush with golds in archery and 10-pin bowling, plus three silvers in swimming.

Lee Fenlon, from Doncaster, who donated a kidney to his father Michael in 2015, struck gold in the swimming relay, and Richard Jones, from Sheffield, claimed victory in the high jump and bronze in the long jump in his first appearance at the competition.

Team manager Charlotte Morton, whose husband Paul received his new kidney in 1988, also chipped in with silver in the virtual relay, which consisted of 250m in the pool, 6.2 miles on the exercise bike and 2km on the running track.

"There's a great bond within the team and we're all delighted with our success," she said.

"We had a nice mixture of experienced athletes and first-timers, for whom it was nice to get to know other people in the same boat as them.

"For many of the athletes, just having the chance to compete was amazing, as they wouldn't be around today were it not for their transplants."

The British Transplant Games are held to raise public awareness of organ donation and to encourage more people to sign up to the donor register.

In South Yorkshire, there are now 415,000 people on the register and 945 people are known to be alive thanks to organ transplants.

* To join the NHS Organ Donor Register, visit www.organdonation.nhs.uk.