The Olympics are still underway in London, but here in the U.S. a set of games just wrapped up.
Twenty-five Iowans participated in this year’s “Transplant Games of America.” Twenty-one organ recipients and four living donors made the trip to Michigan to compete for the gold.
Fresh off of an Olympic win, Dave Johnson can now start preparing his swing for the next games. Dave wasn’t at the London Games, though, he came back from the Transplant Olympics.
Johnson and teammate Michael Hunt competed in the golf tournament at the games, and both received heart transplants just last year.
“I was kind of hesitant to go, because 4 or 5 months ago I still wasn`t feeling the best, I of course got better and better every day. The closer it came the more ready I was to go,” said Hunt.
It was a little more competitive than they expected, but it didn’t take long for the real meaning behind the games to hit them.
Johnson said it helped him realize, “how lucky I was to be there and be alive, because of a donor. And I think that`s the biggest part. It makes you really think how lucky we are. The hardest part I think is, especially with a heart, unfortunately somebody has to die for us to live, and that`s the greatest gift we got.”
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