Residents participate in 2016 Donate Life Transplant Games

From June 10 to June 15, transplant recipients and living donors will travel to Cleveland, Ohio as part of Team Philadelphia, showcasing their athletic abilities, passion and determination as they compete in the 2016 Donate Life Transplant Games of America! Ninety-three transplant recipients and living donors, and 26 donor families from the eastern half of Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware will be participating in the Games as part of Team Philadelphia 2016. The Games will welcome Team Philadelphia and more than 6,000 athletes from across the country, who will give it their all as they compete in sporting events such as track and f ield, basketball, swimming and more.

The Transplant Games is an exciting, biennial Olympic- style competition for organ, corneal, bone marrow and tissue transplant recipients and living donors, and is a great opportunity to highlight the suc- cess of transplantation and draw attention to the critical shortage of organ and tissue donors in the tri- state region. Donor family members, whose loved ones gave the gift of life through organ donation, will also travel to Cleveland as part of Team Philly, to cheer on athletes and show their support of donation and transplantation.

Among the attendees at this year’s Donate Life Transplant Games are Berks County residents:

Craig Rozycki, of Birdsboro, kidney recipient: Three members of Craig’s family have received transplants. His mother, who is now deceased, received two, and his younger brother received a transplant as part of a 56 person exchange. This will be Craig’s third time competing in the Transplant Games with Team Philadelphia. Craig will participate in basketball, table tennis and tennis.

Danielle Bailey, of Boyertown, donor family member.

Brittany Sheidy, Patrick Suglia and Rebecca Sheidy- Henninger, of Shoemakersville: Donor family members who will attend the Games in honor of Carl Henniger. Carl was 33 years old when he died in 2011. He was able to donate corneas, skin, bone and heart valves. While his death was a shock to his family, they feel that being able to give the gift of life has made their loss bearable. They feel that not only did his donation change the lives of his recipients, but it also changed theirs. This is the second Transplant Games for his family.

Team Philadelphia, organized by Gift of Life Donor Program, has been in existence since the Transplant Games was founded in 1990. Over the past 26 years, Team Philly has become the largest traveling team. Most importantly, the Donate Life Transplant Games allows participants to come together to celebrate donors, recipients and their families, while sharing the aweinspiring, personal stories that led them to the Transplant Games.