Every two years, the Transplant Games of America brings together organ recipients, tissue recipients, living donors and donor families from across the country to compete and celebrate the life-saving impact of donation. The 2026 Games in Denver were filled with inspiring moments, personal victories and meaningful connections, but one theme stood out for Team Illinois: heart.
A supporter watching Team Illinois compete summed it up perfectly when they said, “We have a lot of hearts.”
They were right.
This year, Team Illinois-Transplant Life Illinois, was supported by John A Beach II Foundation, Bernard Movers, Breathe Like a Boss Foundation, Chicago Teahouse, Donate Life Illinois, Family of Teddy Mitka, National Kidney Foundation of Illinois, Transplant Life Illinois and UI Health Transplant.
These sponsors enabled more than 50 participants to compete in Denver. Among them were organ recipients, tissue recipients, living donors, donor families and supporters, each with a unique story that reflected the power of donation. This year, Gift of Hope sponsored six Ambassadors of Hope, including three donor families and three recipients, giving them the opportunity to celebrate their loved ones while witnessing the incredible achievements of transplant recipients whose lives have been transformed through donation.
Team Illinois-Transplant Life Illinois included a heart recipient celebrating 23 years since his transplant, which he received at age 12. Another participant shared the emotional journey of receiving a heart transplant after losing his brother to heart disease. One recipient described years of severe heart failure, repeatedly hearing that his heart “pumped too well” to qualify for a transplant, until the day it no longer could.
The Games also created opportunities for connection. Three women with heart transplants quickly bonded over their shared experiences. Two heart recipients, both Ambassadors for Gift of Hope, discovered they had something else in common: close relationships with their donor mothers. In one particularly moving moment, a donor mother contributed a quilt square to the 2026 Donor Family Quilt while standing beside her son’s heart recipient, united in remembrance and gratitude.
Yes, Team Illinois had a lot of heart. And a lot of hearts.
Celebrating Life After Transplant
Of course, hearts were only part of the story.
Team Illinois was also represented by kidney, liver and lung recipients competing in events ranging from basketball, volleyball and swimming to golf, pickleball, tennis, cornhole and trivia. The Games offered participants the chance to celebrate their renewed health while connecting with others who understand the transplant journey.
One Ambassador for Hope and first-time Games attendee helped Team Illinois earn a Gold Medal in volleyball. A young mother and liver recipient took on the challenging Murph Challenge with her husband by her side. The Murph Challenge, which includes a one-mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 air squats and another run, is a grueling and iconic CrossFit Hero workout performed to honor U.S. Navy SEAL Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2005. It is the official annual fundraiser for the LT. Michael P. Murphy Memorial Scholarship Foundation.
Four transplant recipients from different teams across the country joined forces to compete in the 4×100 relay. After winning Gold, the athletes gathered for photos. When asked what type of transplant each had received, the responses came quickly:
“Liver.”
“Liver.”
“Liver.”
And finally, with a smile: “Sorry, kidney.”
It was a lighthearted reminder that while every transplant story is different, the bond among recipients is universal.
Living Donors Making an Impact
The 2026 Games also welcomed many living donors attending for the first time.
Several new Team Illinois members competed as living donors, while others came to support and celebrate. One donor had recently given a kidney to her mother and was unable to meet the medical eligibility timeline for competition. Another new team member was sidelined by a hiking injury just before the Games.
Veteran living donors also made their mark. Two longtime donors, one who donated to her mother and another who donated to her husband, teamed up to win medals in bowling and cornhole before facing each other in the softball throw competition.
Their participation highlighted the extraordinary generosity of living donors and the lasting impact of their gifts.
Honoring Donor Families
For donor families, the Transplant Games offer something unique: the opportunity to see firsthand the lives touched by their loved ones’ gifts.
One donor mother and father have attended the Games for 25 years following the loss of their son. They continue to share his story, trade pins and honor his legacy with fellow participants.
The Games were also meaningful for tissue donor families. Two Ambassadors for Gift of Hope, both donor wives, reflected on how they had previously referred to their husbands as “only” tissue donors. After seeing tissue recipients competing and thriving at the Games, they were reminded that tissue donation changes lives in powerful ways, too.
A Legacy of Heart
The Transplant Games are about competition, but the medals are only part of the story. They are about resilience, gratitude, connection and honoring the gift of life.
For Team Illinois, the 2026 Transplant Games will be remembered for the friendships formed, the stories shared and the lives celebrated.
Most of all, they will be remembered as the Games with a lot of heart.