Youngsters team up to take part in transplant games
ATEAM of youngsters are getting set to take part in this weekend’s British Transplant Games – and they’ve already overcome so much in their short lives.
Each of them is a transplant surgery survivor – with both having been through either kidney or stem cell transplants over the last decade. This year’s transplant games takes place in Nottingham from August 1 to August 5.
The event has been the flagship project of the charity Transplant Sport for over 40 years.
The team of young patients have to fundraise to cover things like travel costs and then when they are at the games they can take part in a range of challenging events.
These include track and field events and sports like archery and squash, but there are also less traditional events such as an obstacle course.
The Newcastle team is managed by Nicola Frankland – whose daughter Alice is involved – and specialist renal nurse Jayne Straker.
The youngsters in the team are Jenson Settler, Oscar Mcloughlin, Thomas Page, Tillie Wood, Jake Lenton, Poppy Lancaster and Eryn Howie. Ariel Bingham and Alice Skinner have now moved up to take part in the adult games.
Eryn’s mum Dawn told The Journal how much the event meant to the youngsters – and she said that the friendships and support they gave one another was incredible.
She said her daughter Eryn had become very close to Alice, and that had been a real inspiration to her and said: “They have became so close through to attending the games. Their friendship is amazing and Eryn really looks up to Alice.”