From June 10 to 15, transplant recipients and living donors traveled to Cleveland, Ohio, as part of Team Philadelphia - showcasing their athletic abilities, passion and determination - as they competed in the 2016 Donate Life Transplant Games of America.

Ninety-three transplant recipients and living donors, and 26 donor families from the eastern half of Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware participated in the games as part of Team Philadelphia 2016. The games welcomed Team Philadelphia and more than 6,000 athletes from across the country, who competed in sporting events such as track and field, basketball, swimming and more.

The Transplant Games, a biennial Olympic-style competition for organ, corneal, bone marrow and tissue transplant recipients and living donors, is an opportunity to highlight the success of transplantation and draw attention to the critical shortage of organ and tissue donors in the tri-state region. Donor family members, whose loved ones gave the gift of life through organ donation, also traveled to Cleveland as part of Team Philly to cheer on athletes.

Among the attendees at this year’s Donate Life Transplant Games are the following area residents:

• Paul Albert, Catasauqua, a bilateral lung transplant recipient

The gift of lungs from a generous donor allowed Albert to win a lifelong battle with cystic fibrosis at the age of 33. After 111 days in the hospital, he was able to go back to work, volunteer and live his life. This will be Albert’s 10th time at the games. He will compete in golf.

• Mark Payson, Whitehall, living donor

Payson donated a kidney to an anonymous recipient. He was motivated by several factors, including the need in his local area, improved outcomes from living donation and the opportunity to impact someone’s life in a very positive way.

Payson is pleased his recipient is a U.S. Army veteran, who is doing very well following the transplant.

This will be Payson’s first time participating in the Transplant Games of America. He will compete in track and field.

Team Philadelphia, organized by Gift of Life Donor Program, has been in existence since the Transplant Games was founded in 1990. Over the past 26 years, Team Philadelphia has become the largest traveling team. Most importantly, the Donate Life Transplant Games allows participants to come together to celebrate donors, recipients and their families, while sharing the awe-inspiring, personal stories that led them to the Transplant Games.

Since 1974, Gift of Life has coordinated more than 42,000 organ transplants and an estimated 600,000 tissue transplants. Gift of Life serves as the link between donors and patients awaiting life-saving organ and life-enhancing tissue transplants.