Bramble Johnson a Brighton & Hove AC athlete and a World Record holder in the 100m and 200m sprints for a 15-17 year old organ transplant athlete, has been selected to represent Team GB & NI at the World Transplant Games, in Perth, Australia, next month (http://www.transplantsport.org.uk and http://www.wtgf.org). This time Bramble will be a senior athlete and he will running in the 100m and 200m sprints and the 4 x 100m Relay, and also will be on the basketball team.
Bramble was born with a rare liver disease, and despite surgery at just 7 weeks old and other medical interventions, needed to be listed for a liver transplant. At 8 months old he was in acute liver failure and no suitable livers were could be found on the organ donor register. Luckily for him his Mum proved to be a suitable match, and so she was able to be his live donor. At 3 years old he had another huge setback; his bone marrow failed three times and bone marrow transplant was discussed. But then he developed aggressive PTLD, a rare cancer which can be a complication of transplantation. Bramble had emergency surgery to remove large tumours which were blocking his bowel then started 5 months of intensive inpatient immunotherapy and chemotherapy and finally, thankfully, went into remission.
The World Transplant Games is expecting over 1000 athletes from around 60 countries around the globe. In addition to the physical sporting challenge, the Games promote the benefits of organ transplantation and highlights the need for organ donation. The GB&NI Transplant team receives no support from the government, National Lottery or other organisations, so individual members have to fund themselves. So Bramble and his Mum (who will be competing in the donor swimming events) have to fund their own trip. They have received some grant funding, but are fundraising to cover the rest. If you would like to donate, you can do so via Just Giving via Transplant Sport which is a Registered Charity visit:
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/hesprintssheswims
Good Luck Bramble from us and make sure you have fun!!
