Name: Dick Hawkins
Age: 49
Transplant: Liver, 1994
Team: Team Upper Midwest
Hometown: Maple Grove, MN
Event(s): Tennis (men's doubles and mixed doubles)
I received a liver transplant at the University of Minnesota on March
23, 1994. Developed primary sclerosing cholangitis after having
ulcerative colitis. This eventually caused cirrhosis.
I am 49 and married to Shirlee W. Hawkins, a real estate agent with
Burnet Realty. I honestly believe that I would not have had the
transplant without her support. She is also my best friend.
My initial interest in the Games came from the fact that I have always
been athletic and competitive. But, my horizon has been expanded.
As with the "real Olympics," the Games are important. But seeing old
friends and making new ones has become a new way of life - both for
Shirlee and myself. We are now sending e-mail to people all over the
U.S.A. as well as Germany and Australia. It's great!
As editor and writer of TROM Topics (quarterly newsletter for
Transplant Recipients Organization of Minnesota), I have conducted
interviews with many prominent people in the transplant community. We
are not only promoting TROM, but we are also promoting organ donation
in general. After all, that's what this is all about. I have also
recently created Web pages for the Internet which promotes TROM, TROM
Topics and the Games.
I am playing tennis in Salt Lake City. Singles, men's doubles and mixed
doubles. My men's doubles partner, Jim Granger, and I were fortunate
enough to win a gold medal in Manchester, England, in 1995 at the World
Games. We played in the 45-and-over age bracket. In the U.S. Games,
there are no age brackets in doubles tennis. So, we know we have a
tough road ahead of us. I have never played with Carol Inman, my mixed
doubles partner. But we are flying out two days before the Games begin
in order to practice. Carol and I are both excited about playing
together. Win or lose, we will have a great time.
On a more sober note, I am one of about five or six in Minnesota who
had a transplant and whose primary sclerosing cholangitis returned. We
all realize that each day on earth could be our last. But with the
return of this disease, I know that each Games could be my last. That
is why I am determined to play my best - both on and off the court in
Salt Lake City.
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Last modified:
11 May 2000