The World Transplant Games 2019: everything you need to know
The World Transplant Games will be hosted by Newcastle and Gateshead between 17-24 August 2019.
The Games are to raise awareness of organ and tissue donation and to encourage transplant patients to regain their fitness.
It will be a huge celebration of medical success stories and the generosity and gratitude of donors and recipients.
What?
The World Transplant Games are held every year for people who have donated or received tissue or an organ.
Who?
This year 2,237 athletes from 60 countries will be taking part in 15 sports across Tyneside and Wearside.
Why?
The aim of the Games is to raise public awareness of donation and to help transplant patients get fit. They are a huge celebration of medical success stories, and the generosity and gratitude of donors and recipients.
When?
The Games will be held here in the North East between 17-24 August 2019.
Where?
The Games are staged annually in a different country every year.
Newcastle and Gateshead are hosting the World Games this year after success with the British Transplant Games in 2015. Events will be held in 13 venues.
Archery
Athletics
Badminton
Basketball
Cycling
Darts
Football
Golf
Petanque
Table Tennis
Tennis
Ten pin Bowling
Squash
Swimming
Volleyball
Virtual Triathlon
More than 800 volunteers will be involved in welcoming the athletes and organising the smooth running of the competitions.
They've all got different motivations for taking part - in memory of friends or relatives or to say thank you for their own medical care. They've been taking part in training sessions and sharing their stories.
There are currently around 21 million people registered on the NHS Organ Donor Register which is around a 1/3 of the UK population.
Three people die each day waiting for a transplant but organ donation law is changing.
From Spring next year all adults in England will be considered to have agreed to be an organ donor when they die unless they have recorded a decision not to donate.
The North East has been at the forefront of pioneering transplant operations.
On October 14th 1987, Kaylee Davidson became the first baby to successfully receive a new heart in the UK. Her heart transplant was carried out at The Freeman Hospital in Newcastle.
Earlier this year, Alex Bell from Tyneside met the family of the man whose heart he received. Liam Andrews was only 17 when he fell ill and died from a brain haemorrhage.