‘We are all winners here’: III All-Russian Transplant Games take place in Kazan
The grand opening of the III All-Russian Transplant Games took place in the capital of Tatarstan on 16 August. Hundreds of athletes from 44 regions of Russia and Belarus took part in the competition. Over the following three days, patients undergone post-organ transplant treatment competed in individual and team sports with their doctors. How the start of this unique sports and medical event took place is described in the reportage of Realnoe Vremya.
“There are no limits to the human spirit”
The event was held from August 15 to 18. More than 250 recipient people took part in the games, that is, people who have had organs transplanted: kidneys, liver, heart, lungs or had a heart-lung transplant. Donors and patients undergoing dialysis, a procedure that replaces kidney function, as well as their attending physicians, also participated in the event.
The event was organised with the support of the Presidential Grants Fund, and dozens of medical foundations and organisations participated in the development of the program together with the Ministry of Sports and the Ministry of Healthcare of Tatarstan.
“Transplantation is what gives people a chance to start a new life. I can definitely say that there are no boundaries to the human spirit. Therefore, I wish you to set new records every time and never lose heart," said Minister of Health of the Republic Marsel Minnullin.
“You are already winners, since you were able to overcome the difficulties you had to face”
These are the third games of this nature in a row — the first two times, in 2022 and 2023, were held in Moscow. This year, the capital of Tatarstan was chosen as the venue. According to Sergey Gauthier, a chief visiting transplant specialist at the Russian Ministry of Healthcare, the republic was chosen as a site for a reason, because it is one of the main leaders in the number of transplants performed in the country.
In the last year alone, 213 organ transplants were performed in the region: 115 kidney transplants, 72 liver transplants and 26 heart transplants.
“To be honest, we are very glad to see all of you healthy. First of all, I want to say that you are already winners, since you were able to overcome the difficulties that you had to face. Today, more than 22,000 people have had the opportunity to receive aid, so transplantation will be relevant at all times. Tatarstan has reached a radically high level of medicine in this area — just yesterday, another organ transplant operation was performed here," Gauthier said.
From Belarus to Yakutia
Teams and doctors from 44 regions of Russia came to the capital — from Moscow, Kazan and Ufa to the farthest corners of the country — Buryatia and Yakutia (Sakha), as well as from Belarus. . The games were held both in individual disciplines — running, bowling, badminton, table tennis, swimming, Nordic walking, darts and chess — and in team sports — basketball, volleyball, mini-football.
In the morning, hundreds of team members began to gather at the Rowing Sports Centre — they included both patients who had gone through a difficult path of rehabilitation, and their attending doctors — transplant specialists.
Oksana Abrarova turned out to be one of them — this day became symbolic for her, because exactly six years ago she became a donor — she donated her kidney for her son Anton. She, as well as other participants of the event, became laureates of the Honourary Badge “To the Giver of a Part of Themself” — they were awarded diplomas and medals for humanism and self-sacrifice.
“An ordinary sore throat gave complications, my son and I had to be treated for two years. And then it turned out that we got on dialysis, after which we went for a kidney transplant. And in general, I cannot find words of gratitude to our doctors — Almaz Nailevich [Gaynullov], Omar Magomedovich [Kadyrov], Shamil Renatovich [Ageev] and Ksenia Viktorovna [Sitkina] for their help and professionalism. We are healthy and happy that everything ended like this," she said.