Volunteer medics help organ transplant patients celebrate second life
Organ transplant recipients demonstrate their passion for life by competing enthusiastically in track events, ball games, and other sports. Witnessing their safe finishes and winning medals fills a devoted team of volunteer medics with joy from helping others. “Every transplant recipient has come face to face with death. They actively reclaim their lives and can participate in sports events just like anyone else. Whenever I face difficulties in life, they seem trivial by comparison,” explains Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) Advanced Practice Physiotherapist Chris Kwok.
The QEH volunteer team guides and supports transplant recipients, including heart, lung, kidney, liver, and bone marrow transplant recipients, etc., as they participate in the Transplant Games in Hong Kong, the Mainland, and worldwide, preparing competitors intensively for around six months before each significant competition. Doctors perform comprehensive physical exams on participants, including electrocardiogram tests and reviews of their medical histories and medication, nurses check their blood pressure and vital signs, and physiotherapists conduct stress tests to assess participants’ physical fitness and cardiopulmonary load capacity to ensure they can handle the challenges ahead.
Once preparations are completed, volunteer team members travel with the athletes and stay with them for every step of the journey. Last year, they flew to Perth of Australia for the 24th World Transplant Games, where the 29-strong Hong Kong team included a 75-year-old recipient who competed energetically at pétanque, darts, and table tennis. The old lady is a kidney transplant recipient who participated the World Transplant Games 2013 in South Africa, where she had a medical drama, says QEH Renal Unit Associate Consultant Dr Chan Hoi-wong. “She suddenly became unsteady and had slurred speech at the gala dinner, then was urgently transferred to a local hospital. She was diagnosed with an ischemic stroke and, after spending two days in the intensive care unit, she returned safely to Hong Kong on a flight of more than 10 hours escorted by the team.” Dr Chan says that the transplant recipient has continued participating in multiple Transplant Games after recovery and has developed a deep bond with volunteer team members. They affectionately call her ‘Grandma’.
Offer night clinics till midnight after overseas competitions
A special night clinic service is provided by the volunteer team to give extra support to transplant recipients who travel to overseas competitions. “We run clinics every night, providing muscle massages, fascial release, acupuncture, and electrotherapy while also checking and treating potential myofascial strains,” says Chris. The clinics often run until midnight with competitors calling in continuously before the following morning at 6am, when volunteer team members gather again to look after competitors and provide on-site medical support and translation where needed. When the events are over, they take competitors on tours of the local areas and share quality time with them.Dr Chan is determined to continue promoting organ donation through volunteer services, so that more patients can be given the precious gift of a second chance of life. Dr Chan says, “seeing transplant recipients engage in sports gives us a profound sense of them living out their second lives. Without organ transplants, some of them wouldn’t be with us today.”
The volunteer team contributes to support the transplant recipients by different departments over the years, they are Department of Medicine, Renal Team, Accident & Emergency Department, Paediatrics Department and Physiotherapy Department. The volunteer team is preparing for the 5th Hong Kong Transplant and Dialysis Sports Games in October to render support to transplant recipients.
