British Transplant Games 2023 launches in Coventry

Luke Alexander, liver transplant recipient, is hoping to compete in swimming, track and field and a bike time trial in 2023

Transplant survivors and organisers have launched a sporting competition that celebrates the "gift of life".

The multi-discipline British Transplant Games is being held in Coventry in July 2023.

About 1,000 athletes plus hundreds of spectators are expected to boost the city's economy during the event.

It's the first time the city will have hosted the games and chairman Les Ratcliffe said there was no better place for it.

Transplant recipients and donors take part in the competition

Mr Ratcliffe, who also chairs the Coventry & Warwickshire Champions and Place Board, said the competition was "really going to affect the economy locally".

"It's becoming normal to see Coventry as a place to go and celebrate, as a place to go and do things, because we have the facilities and we have the can-do attitude to make it work," he added.

"There's something for everybody.... nobody's going to be left out, whether it's table tennis, darts or golf."

Les Ratcliffe, chairman of next year's Games, said organisers were looking for businesses to get involved in the event

Yuri Matischen, British Transplant Games organiser from MLS, said Coventry was a great transplant centre, with a "unique place in transplantation".

"It's really important for people who have had transplants to be physically active, to improve their health and lifestyles, extend the life cycle of their organs," he said.

The event is the largest in the UK to promote organ donation, with donor families and medics also gathering to cheer athletes on, Mr Matischen added.

"We still need to have conversations amongst all our population about your personal wishes concerning organ donation... these games give a catalyst to that message," Mr Matischen said.

Sylvie, 10, who won medals at the 2022 event in Leeds, is excited to compete in the closest city to her Leamington Spa home

Sylvie, 10, who underwent an urgent liver transplant seven years ago after a rapid deterioration in her health, "can't wait" for the games to come to her city.

"I'll have all my family and friends supporting me. So no pressure," the Leamington Spa resident added.

Mother Sandeep said the Games were an opportunity for Sylvie to feel "like a normal child with her fellow transplanted team members".

"I love being part of a family that understands what we've all been through, and survived," Sandeep added.

Fellow competitor Luke Alexander, a former Coventry University student, was born with a rare condition called biliary atresia, which causes bile to be trapped inside the liver.

When he was 11, his liver started to fail and his life was transformed by a donation from a 13-year-old boy.

Sandeep, pictured with Sylvie, said the family had not met other transplant survivors before previous Games

Luke has since written to his donor's family about the active life his transplant enabled, including winning gold medals and breaking a cycling world record at previous games in Malaga and Newcastle.

"Events like transplant sport, where I've been able to meet and make friends that have had transplants and similar experiences, that helps you really appreciate the power of the gift of life," he added.

The 2023 event will take place at venues across Coventry from 27 to 30 July.