Thousands of athletes to compete in the 2010 NKF U.S. Transplant Games5/11/2010
The 2010 National Kidney Foundation’s U.S. Transplant Games in Madison, Wisconsin will be held July 30-Aug. 4. The Games are an Olympic-style event for athletes who have received organ transplants of every type – kidney, liver, heart, lung, pancreas and bone marrow. Transplant athletes will compete for gold, silver and bronze medals in 12 different sports, including track and field, swimming, tennis, basketball, cycling and golf.
“More than 100,000 Americans are currently on the waiting list for life-saving organ transplants and 18 people die each day while waiting. The Transplant Games visually showcase the success of transplantation, demonstrating the life-saving power of organ donation,” said John Davis, CEO of the National Kidney Foundation. “We hope our spirited competition will slam home the message that every American should consider becoming an organ donor.”
Attendance at the 2010 U.S. Transplant Games is expected to reach 7,000, including transplant athletes, their families and friends and families of organ donors. Athlete participants range in age from two to 85. In addition to athletic competition, the Games will feature special ceremonies honoring living organ donors and families of deceased organ donors. The Games will also offer four days of special workshops for donor families and an educational program for professionals involved in transplantation. A special Celebrate Life Night will be held at Willow Island at the Alliant Energy Center on Friday, July 30 and a Community 5K Run to promote organ donation, will be held on Saturday, July 31, 2010.
For more information on the Games, visit
www.transplantgames.org.
http://www.nephronline.com/news.asp?N_ID=3804
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