Team Tennessee Donor Services recently announced the results of its participation in the 2016 Donate Life Transplant Games held in Cleveland, Ohio, June 10 – 15, 2016. The team returned home with a record 35 medals: 16 gold, 12 silver and seven bronze.

 

Team Tennessee Donor Services was comprised of living donors and organ and tissue recipients representing cities throughout Tennessee who competed in a variety of athletic events at the games, ranging from tennis to swimming. Family members of donors also attend the event in honor of their loved ones who donated their organs and tissues.

 

Below are the names of the medal winners categorized by hometown:

 

Nashville, Tenn.

George Blank, living kidney donor

• Gold  – 100M Sprint
  Gold  – 200M Sprint

Jarmar Burton, 3X kidney recipient

• Gold – Best Moment of The Transplant Games

Daryl Collins, double lung recipient (Manchester)

• Bronze – 20K Cycling
  Bronze – Racquetball

Gay Eisen, liver recipient

• Gold – Table Tennis
  Gold – Singles Badminton
  Silver – Doubles Badminton
  Silver – Racquetball

Donnetta Hawkins, liver recipient

• Silver – Singles Bowling

Annalise Perry, kidney recipient (Shelbyville)

• Silver – Doubles Badminton
  Bronze  – Singles Badminton

Knoxville, Tenn.

Ricky Castro, multi-organ recipient

• Bronze – Darts

Travis Fuller, kidney recipient

• Gold – Singles Tennis
  Sliver – Mixed Doubles Tennis
  Bronze – Double Tennis

Vicki Geist, kidney recipient

• Gold – Swimming 50M Breaststroke
  Gold – Swimming 100M Breaststroke
  Gold- 200M Sprint
  Gold-400M Sprint

Todd Greene, liver recipient, youngest team member

• Gold-Junior Olympiad
  Gold-Junior Youth Golf
  Silver- Mixed Golf

Billy Jarvis, kidney recipient

• Gold – Mixed Doubles Tennis
  Silver – Singles Tennis
  Bronze – Doubles Tennis

Tri-Cities

Jeff Clements, heart recipient (Johnson City)

• Gold – Swimming 100M Freestyle
  Bronze- Swimming 50M Breaststroke

Meredith Haga, living kidney recipient (Bristol)

• Gold – Mixed Doubles Tennis
  Silver – Swimming 50M Breaststroke
  Silver – Singles Tennis

 

“In preparing for the Transplant Games, Team Tennessee Donor Services demonstrated the determination and will that is inherent in all recipients of organ and tissue donations,” said Jill Grandas, executive director of Tennessee Donor Services. “We congratulate them on their successes at the games in Cleveland this year, while also expressing our sincerest gratitude to the donors and their families who are the reason these competitors are alive today.”

 

The Donate Life Transplant Games is a multi-sport festival event produced by the Transplant Games of America for individuals who have undergone life-saving transplant surgeries. Held in Cleveland, OH, June 10 – 15, 2016, competitive events are open to living donors, organ transplant recipients, bone marrow, corneal and tissue transplant recipients. More than an athletic event, the Donate Life Transplant Games highlight the critical importance of organ, eye, and tissue donation, while celebrating the lives of organ donors and recipients. The next Transplant Games will take place in summer 2018.