Table tennis player lives with teenage boy's heart

Teenager Liam Andrews' organs saved the lives of six people

A table tennis player representing Great Britain in the World Transplant Games in Germany said he wanted to "continue the legacy" of the teenager who donated his heart to him.

Alex Bell, who is 57 and from Newcastle, received a life-saving transplant twelve years ago, after being diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy.

His donor, 17-year-old Liam Andrews from Stockton-on-Tees, saved the lives of six people after he died from a brain haemorrhage in 2013.

Mr Bell, who runs an immigration law firm, said "getting a second chance" meant a lot to him.

The table tennis player turned to the sport "a few years before Covid" after he and a friend discovered a free-to-use table outside Newcastle's Central Station.

This year marks his third participation in the World Transplant Games.

"I am doing this as a way of continuing Liam's legacy," Mr Bell said.

"I was ill until I was transplanted, I had very little time left. So, getting a second chance, that meant a lot for me."

Mr Bell won a silver medal at the European Transplant Games in Lisbon last year

Liam's mother, Suzanne Andrews, said Mr Bell was a "lovely guy" and she "couldn't be more proud of that decision that Liam made".

She and Mr Bell did not meet until more than five years after her son's death.

While Mr Bell's son had sent a letter thanking Liam's family via Newcastle Freeman Hospital's transplant co-ordinator, Miss Andrews said she "couldn't find the words" to respond at the time.

On the fifth anniversary of her son's death, she was "scrolling through social media" when she came across an article about Mr Bell.

"It said 'heart recipient', and, you know, the age was kind of right," she says.

"There was a photo at the bottom and it was of Alex, his wife Eve, and his two sons Matt and Charlie. And my letter was from Matt and Charlie.

"At that point I was like, wow, this man's got my son's heart."

Miss Andrews says meeting Mr Bell turned something "horrifically negative" into something positive

Miss Andrews made contact with Mr Bell and they arranged to meet.

Mr Bell said there was "one big, huge, long hug" and he spent the next hour or two learning about his donor.

Meeting Mr Bell and his family "turned something so horrifically negative into something so positive", Miss Andrews said.

"He always sees him and Liam as a team, so I know he always gives him a nod in his direction and it's like 'come on, let's do this'," she added.

Mr Bell is competing in singles, men's doubles and mixed doubles at the games in Dresden until 23 August.

Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.