When MTF employee Kimberly Young first injured her knee at 19, she never dreamed that the pain she was feeling would one day allow her to have the experience of a lifetime. As a tissue recipient and the manager of Donor Log-In at MTF, Kimberly knows first hand the effect that tissue donation and transplantation have on both donor families and recipients. But her personal and professional mission of donation was validated at a new level as she became one of the first tissue recipients to participate in the Transplant Games last month.  

 

For Kimberly, the decision to undergo transplant surgery was met with no hesitation on her part. After years of pain, an MRI showed substantial damage to her left knee, and the anterior cruicate ligament displayed evidence of a chronic tear. Working at MTF gave Kimberly an advantage of knowing how safe and effective a tissue transplant can be. She underwent an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) transplant with a bone-tendon-bone graft to repair the knee injury.   

 

Over the summer, Kimberly joined Team Liberty, the New Jersey/New York/Connecticut team comprised of mostly organ recipients, to participate in the 2014 Transplant Games of America in Houston, Texas. For the first time ever, the Games welcomed tissue recipients to compete and honor the gift of tissue donation. The Games were held July 12-16 and featured athletes from across America, all who have been touched by donation and transplantation. 

 

While at the Games, Kimberly was able to meet numerous donor families, including a family from South Carolina that came to Houston to honor their son/brother who made the selfless decision to donate.  Although Kimberly was nervous to attend her first Games, she was soon put at ease by members of her own team. "I was nervous that my graft might not have been as life altering as someone who has received a heart or lungs, but I was soon shown that we are all recipients of the gift, and no matter how small it may seem; it's just as important," says Kimberly. While in Houston, Kimberly competed in  the shot put and darts. She medaled in both competitions iearning the gold in each.   

 

"It is difficult to put into words how this experience affected me", Kimberly says. "Every recipient I spoke to made me feel as worthy and triumphant for going through my experience. They reminded me that I'd been given the Gift of Life just as they have. I can't wait to attend the next Transplant Games in Cleveland!"

 

 

 

Team Liberty 2014

Kimberly Young participating in the shot put

Tina Rueles, Team Texas, and Kimberly Young winners of Gold and Silver medals in darts

To learn more about Transplant Games of America, click HERE