Athletes competing at the World Transplant Games are considered elite and perform at high levels for their genre. However does the management of this client group differ from any other athletic population? This talk will explore vignettes of transplantee athletes exploring the diversity of this population. These athletes are unique as they are able to compete in 5 different sporting events and are segregated within their age groups, not to mention they would not be there were it not for a lifesaving transplant. Although research is available regarding both surgical management of organ transplantation there are comparatively few reports considering the post-surgical journey of recipients and their sporting (and activity) experiences. Consequently, our understanding of the transplant athlete per se has not paralleled the growth and success of national and international Transplant Games. Having worked with transplant athletes for nearly 10 years, personal observation sand communications with athletes and their families at the British and World Transplant Games has uncovered a number of very different transplantee backgrounds, experiences and journeys which will be explored during this talk. These considerations may be helpful to reflect upon when managing this population in supporting their individual physical activities.
