DENVER — Federal data shows more than 100,000 Americans are waiting for an organ transplant.
Some like Meredith Gershberg, who lives in Denver, end up giving the gift of life.
“I donated a kidney to help my mom,” she explained. “We were not a match together. So I did what's called an advanced donation… My kidney went to a total stranger, and my mom received what's called a voucher… Helping a stranger for me and someone else helping my mom, and she's doing great. It's been a year and a half, and she's great.”
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While donations have not been able to keep up with demand, they are life-saving procedures for many.
Tony Young, who is from Elbert County, had a long road to becoming an organ recipient at age 45.
“My issues started when I was 25 was when I had my first heart attack,” he recalled. “I had a second heart attack at age 30... Between the different versions of heart failure I continued to go through, and the medications, a lot of that stuff was really hard on all the other organs, and I went into kidney failure as well.”
In 2020, he received a heart and a kidney from an angel donor in Texas.
“She was 34 years old at the time of her tragic passing,” Young said. “There's another person somewhere who has her other kidney and another person somewhere who has her liver… Without her, I'm not here.”
The procedure is something total strangers can instantly bond over.
“I always call it the greatest community that no one wanted to be a part of,” Young said. “No one wants to require an organ donation, no one wants to be that sick, but we're grateful that we were able to receive something.”
This week, Denver will host the biennial Transplant Games for the first time, giving organ recipients and donors a chance to come together.
“A great opportunity,” Young said of the Games. “It's kind of like our version of the Olympics. So there's activities for people who are doing strenuous things, like 20K bike rides, and there's activities for people who want to throw darts. So, it's really inclusive for a lot of people, and I'm proud to be a part of it.”
Forty-four teams representing regions from around the country, and beyond, will compete in venues around the city in sports like cycling and swimming to much more casual activities. Team Rocky Mountain includes 120 members from both Colorado and Wyoming, including Gershberg and Young.
“I am signed up to participate in pickleball and bowling, which I have not improved since my childhood years of bowling,” Gershberg said.
“I chose some of the most strenuous events: I will be doing Texas Hold'em and trivia,” Young joked.
The Games give competitors the chance to live fully, meet other members of their community, and to send the message that donations save lives.
“Being a donor at first was like never on my radar, but when you get that call that a family member needs help, [that] changes your perspective,” Gershberg said.
Coloradans don’t have to be a donor or recipient to get involved. There is a 5K open to the public Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m. on the Auraria Campus.
The Transplant Games will also be attempting a Guinness World Record title for the largest gathering of living organ donors and organ transplant recipients, Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at the Colorado Convention Center.
Organizers say kidney and liver donations are the most common transplant needed, and that one organ donor can save up to eight lives and tissue donors can impact up to 75 lives. They estimate that each day, 17 people die waiting for an organ donation.
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