NATIONAL KIDNEY FOUNDATION 2006 U.S. TRANSPLANT GAMES: NINE GOLD MEDALS FOR TEAM LIBERTY

Members of Team Liberty from New York and New Jersey won 20 medals, including nine gold medals, at the National Kidney Foundation’s 2006 U.S. Transplant Games, held in Louisville, KY from June 16-21. Team Liberty was part of the 65-member and 24-athlete contingent from our region. The Transplant Games are Olympic-style sporting events for transplant recipients that have received life-saving organ, tissue or bone marrow transplants. The Games, which are held every two years, attracted 1,229 athletes from 47 teams and 5 foreign countries. Additionally, 594 donor families and 171 living donors were in attendance. Athlete participants ranged in age from three to 84. In addition to athletic competition, the Games featured four days of special workshops for donor families and living donors. A 5K Road Race, open to the Louisville community, was held on June 17.

Among the Team Liberty athletes from the New York Organ Donor Network service area were Andrea Eisenman (double lung recipient), Debbie Greenberg (heart recipient), and Richard DeRoche (kidney recipient). Also present at the Games were three donor fathers and their families: Thomas McLuskey, Peter Kupczak, and Rich Mullane, who is a per diem New York Organ Donor Network family support specialist. Marie Colon, a donor wife and Donor Network aftercare specialist, also joined the athletes for the ceremonies.

The National Kidney Foundation is dedicated to preventing kidney and urinary tract diseases, improving the health and well-being of individuals and families affected by these diseases and increasing the availability of all organs for transplantation.

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, proud sponsor of the 2006 Games, has supported the event since 1990. A committed partner to the transplant community, Novartis is dedicated to enhancing therapeutic options, quality of life and the long term success of therapy for transplant recipients.

The next Games are scheduled for July 2008.