KIDNEY transplant patient Declan Logue would not have imagined 18 years ago that he would be preparing for a world championship.
But that’s exactly what the 52 year-old Stratford Cycle Club member is doing ahead of the World Transplant Games taking place in Spain later this month.
Declan, who lives near Redditch, was diagnosed with Wegener’s granulomatosis – in which the immune system attacks its own tissues – in his early 20s.
Following his transplant in 1999 Declan was keen to keep fit and discovered a passion for cycling after joining a local triathlon club.
He said: “Receiving a kidney transplant was like winning the lottery, it meant that I was able to resume living life just like everyone else.”
Declan was told the average kidney transplant lasted ten years, but his has lasted nearly twice as long, and rather than worry, he simply lived life to the full.
And the IT project manager’s determination is even stronger following chemotherapy to treat a lymphoma in 2012.
He said: “All I wanted to do once I was well enough, was to cycle. I loved the freedom of it, the air rushing past you , it makes me feel like a seven year-old again.”
His love of cycling has seen him join Team GB for a fourth time alongside other transplant survivors and donors from 60 countries across the globe.
The World Transplant Games, which run from June 25 to July 2, demonstrate the effectiveness of organ transplants and promotes how people can live and keep healthy through exercise.
Team manager Lynne Holt said: “These athletes certainly deserve the same recognition as the recent Olympic and Para Olympic Games.
“Aside from the constant training, fitting in work, publicity and hospital appointments, these athletes receive no government support, and have to raise over £1500 themselves.
“However, their motivation to celebrate and be ‘fit for life’ and in doing so, pay tribute to their donors, is the goal – as well as encouraging more people to sign on to the organ donor register and discuss their wishes with family.”
Declan’s passion and experience with cancer has also prompted him to support the Cyclists Fighting Cancer charity – which helps young patients through keeping active – and contribute his many miles in the saddle to its Million Mile Bike Ride campaign.
Visit www.millionmilebike.org.uk to find out more about the Million Mile Bike Ride campaign, and www.wtgf.org for information about the World Transplant Games.
Anyone interested in information on organ donations should visit www.organdonation.nhs.uk.
