What is a transplant athlete?  The things that come to mind include the transplant operation and the idea of a life being saved or revitalized.  The gift of an organ or bone marrow satisfies the deep human instinct to help one another.  The gift is one of love, whether directly as in living donation, or anonymously after death.  We hear "someone had to die in order for the transplant to take place."  Perhaps it should be that "someone died, and he was the sort of person who was willing to share with others."  

The emotions are overwhelming as we watch children who would have been dead as they courageously swim alongside others whose lives too have been saved by a transplant.  The colors of 51 countries' uniforms mixing in the Sydney International Aquatic Center are a testament to the global common bond of the athletes who traveled here.  The chants and cheers in many languages blend together in a united proclamation of success.  The success of medicine which not so long ago must have seemed like an experiment.  

Those of us who work in the operating room wonder "did it hurt when the accident happened?  What was she thinking about the last time she sat down to paint her nails that color?  Did his parents remember to tell him that they loved him last night?  How could this happen?"  Mostly, "What can it possibly be like to say goodbye, admit defeat, let go, and in the same instance say 'yes, take his heart' or 'take her liver' to help anyone who needs it."  

The games are a demonstration to the world that transplant works.  They are even more a testament to the fact that unselfish giving to those in need really works.  A transplant athlete is someone whose life has been restored.  Someone who can show us that successful transplantation is no theory.  Competition is fierce.  Rivalry is everywhere at the Games.  We've talked to people who have trained for years in order to take home a medal.  Yet once the games are over, we all go home to our jobs, our families, our routines.  

The message we can carry is that there is nothing wrong with donation. There is no justification for hesitation in the matter. Over 1,200 people came to Sydney this week.  Many hundreds of thousands more are around the world living lives today that simply would have long since ended without transplantation.  Who are we to argue with a thousand smiling faces instead of a thousand funerals?  The decision to donate is deeply personal, but everyone should know that the outcome is a saved life, a reunited family, a smile restored.  

Transplant athletes tell us that they often wonder about their donors.  They wonder how to say, "thank you."   They live each day to the fullest.  They know what it's like to face the end of life and come back.  They are strong, courageous, grateful, and vibrant.  They tell us that that this event is one of the best ways they know to say thank you.  They are clearly demonstrating the level of health and fitness that they have attained thanks to donated organs.  

Here in Sydney, borders and governments have vaporized.  Differences have disappeared.  The air is full of energy -- laughter and tears flow simultaneously.  Those of us lucky enough to be here are truly energized by the spirit of competition, survival, and sincere happiness.  Remember kids' summer camp?  The first day is hard to take, nobody knows anyone else, and home seems so far away.  By the end of the week no one wants to go home.  Lifelong friendships have been started.  The bond is greater than we ever find when we're expecting it, looking for it, or wishing it could happen.  Well, it turns out that summer camp pales in comparison to the World Transplant Games.  We all agree that it will be a long two years until the 1999 XII World Transplant Games in Tilburg!  Put your vacation request in at work today, mark your calendars, start saving for your tickets, tell everyone that you are going.  The Netherlands is only as far away as your closest airport.  All of us at TransWeb look forward to seeing you there!