Transplant Games: 'Without organ donations I wouldn't be here'

Flora King (right) says she "wouldn't be here today" without having a kidney transplant

Flora King has represented her country in athletics and won medals around the world. But unlike most globe-trotting athletes she uses steroids.

She's not taking them to boost her performance, though. She's taking them to keep her alive.

That's because Flora had a kidney transplant when she was 13.

"I couldn't do normal things," she says.

"My friends would have ice-skating parties and bowling parties and I just couldn't go to them."

Flora, 25, says within six weeks of having her transplant she felt like she had more energy.

"I was happier. I could interact with my friends and just be a normal kid again," she says.

Flora tells BBC Newsbeat she "wouldn't be here today" without her transplant.

It's a feeling shared by 1,000 or so other athletes at the Transplant Games in Coventry.

Held in a different city each year, people of all ages from around the UK take part in the games, covering events from swimming to squash, archery to athletics.

Flora had a transplant when she was 13-years-old

The athletes at the games - which finish on Sunday - don't just care about the medals, they're hoping to raise awareness of organ donation too.

Most people who've had a transplant have to take steroids for the rest of their lives, as well as other medication to stop the body from rejecting the new organ.

Flora is taking part in athletics, netball and tennis, sports which also took her to the World Transplant Games in Perth, Australia, earlier this year.

"We can't compete in the Olympics, because you can't take steroids," she says.

"And we can't be in the Paralympics because they don't have a category for us."

Like many of her fellow competitors sport has been a big part of Flora's recovery.

For most events, she needs to wear a special belt to protect her kidney, because after a donation the new organ sits on the front of the body.

"I know that I can't push myself as hard and I have to have more water breaks and just slow down a little bit," she says.

Alfie is competing for his local Nottingham team

While Flora has been coming to the games for years, for others it's their first time.

Alfie's a PE teacher and had his kidney transplant 12 months ago. Now he's won his first gold medal with his volleyball team.

The 22-year-old says it's been good to meet other people who've gone through the same things he has.

"Even after 10 years for them, things are doing really well".

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That's something Luke, who's taking part in multiple different sports, agrees with.

"You meet so many people from different backgrounds that have gone through a shared experience with you," the 23-year-old says.

"I've made friends here and I've made connections on a much deeper level that I normally wouldn't have.

"Seeing new people come to the games and seeing them compete, you can see a spark light in them about how much they can push themselves and how much they've got from the second chance at life.

"So it's really quite amazing to see."

Luke had a liver transplant when he was 12 and has been competing at the games since he was 16

Both the participants and the organisers are hoping to raise awareness and encourage more people to sign up as organ donors.

Akash received a first kidney from his mum as a child.

He later got a second from a "pair" arrangement, where his dad gave a kidney to someone else in exchange for one that was a match for Akash.

Because of this, he says the games are always a big family event.

The 23-year-old was on a waiting list for more than six years, made longer by a relative lack of South Asian donors who could be a match.

"Our community needs people to sign up. We're a big community and we need to push it as much as we can."

Akash says he's made lifelong friends through the games

Akash will almost certainly need a third kidney donation at some point, and will need to stay on medication for the rest of his life.

But he's got big sporting plans, and aspirations to be at the next World Transplant Games in Germany.

"That's my main goal. To compete for Great Britain would be something special," he says.

"I don't care if I get a medal. But representing my country? Beautiful."

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