Transplant Games countdown begins

A torch has been lit in Bath to mark the countdown to next year's British Transplant Games.

The games feature athletes who have received organs and the ceremony was attended by athletes and families who have lost loved ones.

The event starts in Bath in nine months and for the athletes it is a chance to show off their skills.

When the games were held in Coventry there was a 100% increase in local people joining the organ register.

"There was no decision to be made. We just 'phoned the hospital and said take what you can"

David Nix, who lost his daughter Rebecca in a road accident when was 21, was at the launch.

He said 74 people benefited from her decision to become a donor.

"It had been her wish since the age of seven that if anything ever happened to her she wanted to become an organ donor," he said.

"There was no decision to be made. We just phoned the hospital and said take what you can."

The games are organised by the registered charity Transplant Sport UK which aims to raise awareness of the need for organ donation in the UK and worldwide.

Over the past 30 years, the games have grown to a four-day annual event for more than 600 competitors and almost 1,000 supporters.

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Transplant Sport UK
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites