SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The Donate Life Transplant Games 2022 will bring close to 10,000 people to San Diego.
This includes organ donors, recipients, as well as transplant professionals, families, and friends. The week-long competition will feature close to 2,000 donors and recipients competing in 20 different sporting events.
"There are a lot of events and a lot of things that happen in San Diego," said Transplant Life Foundation President Bill Ryan.
"But there are very few that save lives."
While the events are very competitive such as swimming, bowling, basketball, and even poker, the transplant games are more about honoring the legacy of those who gave the ultimate gift of life.
"Recipients and living donors come out to celebrate the amazing miracle of life," said Ryan.
"There is still 110, 000 people that are on a waiting list waiting for an organ, and roughly 20 of them will die every day waiting for an organ"
Diane Brockington and Eryn Roberts are a part of a group that calls themselves Transplant Trekkers. Both women are kidney donors and say it's all about the chance to restore somebody's health.
"Unless we are surgeons, most of us don't have that ability. But I donated a kidney to a friend 21 years ago, and he is fine," says Brockington
"Life is a gift and I was able to give that gift to another person," says Roberts. "So they could continue living their life and I have never been more healthy in my own life."
The Transplant Games are a celebration of life and saving lives through organ donation. Each live donor and recipient will come to San Diego with the chance to showcase their athletic talents.
"You would be surprised at how serious they are," says Ryan. "These athletes are anxious to prove that they have returned to good health. They are not pro's, but it's a way to get out and show they still have their stuff."
The Donate Life 2022 Transplant Games will start on July 29 and run through August 3.
