Man with 25pc lung capacity brings back gold from transplant game
A man with less than 25 per cent of a normal person’s lung capacity is celebrating after bringing back a gold medal from the British Transplant Games in Newport, Wales.
The Halton Table Tennis Club player, who grew up in Cannock Wood, is now British champion for his age category.
Halton Borough Council communications officer Mark Allen, 47, has now more than a dozen British medals to add to a number of European titles, all in table tennis.
Mark, who had a double lung transplant in 2005, also now needs a new kidney and had to go to have his medal ceremony early so he could drive to Cardiff for dialysis.
The former teacher and journalist, who is also a governor of Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital Foundation NHS Trust, was born with Cystic Fibrosis but has tried not to let it hold him back, having lived in Holland, USA and South Korea among other places.
He also developed diabetes as a result of the CF.
The anti-rejection drugs are toxic to the kidneys and he has to have dialysis for four hours, three times a week, which he fits around a full time job.
He also plays keyboard in a band, The Gifted Organs and can often be found at gigs, watching Widnes Wild ice hockey team, cricket or Aston Villa.
Lichfield-born Mark, who has worked for the Express & Star among other papers, and taught in Australia and South Korea, as well as working for Greenpeace, AAPT and a Perth zoo, said: “The idea of the transplant games is to raise awareness of what can be achieved. We don’t just need people to sign up to the Organ Donor Register.
“We also need people to have to conversation with their families and loved ones. As even with presumed consent, relatives can overturn a dead person’s wishes. I enjoy caching up with friends and competitors, many I only see once a year. By the nature of our conditions it may always be the last time I see them, so we make the most of it.”
Mark represents Newcastle Freeman at the British Games and Team GB at the Europeans.
The Westfield Health British Transplant Games took place over four days in Newport, South Wales, with hundreds of athletes from all over GB and Northern Ireland. It ended with a gala dinner on Sunday night. Mark also took part in indoor bowls, the cricket ball throw and the fancy dress 3k donor run/walk.
