Gold-medal glory for Hong Kong team at World Transplant Games
Hong Kong's team of 20 - who have all undergone organ transplants - scooped 14 golds, 12 silvers and 11 bronzes when they took on some 900 other athletes at the 19th World Transplant Games in Durban, South Africa.
Hong Kong has turned in its best-ever performance at the world games for transplant patients, coming 12th out of 49 territories - with an 11-year-old leading the field.
That meant an average of 1.85 medals each, the best result since Hong Kong sent its first team to the biennial games in 2007, when it was hosted by Thailand.
Not only was So Tsz-ling the youngest athlete on the team at just 11 years old, she also won the highest number of medals among the Hongkongers at the eight-day event. She scored three golds in the sprint, long jump and bowling, one silver in swimming and a bronze in badminton.
After returning from the games this month, Tsz-ling, who was born with a liver defect, said: "I want to appeal to more people to donate their organs to people in need."
Her mother, Penny Poon Wai-fong, donated a third of her liver when Tsz-ling was just seven months old. "I am very happy," said Poon. "She has grown healthily after accepting the organ transplant and can show her sporting talent."
Leung Fung-ling, who was awarded two medals in lawn bowls, said that she treasured her life more since receiving a bone marrow transplant in 1995 from one of her sisters after being diagnosed with lymphatic cancer.
"Through this competition, I hope I can show my sister and family that the bone marrow she donated and the support they gave me were not wasted," said Leung, who is now in her 30s.
Leung said she had been very depressed before the transplant because her father had died of cancer and her second sister had lost her twin babies the year before. However, she said, she never thought of giving up on life.
Dr Chau Ka-foon, honorary president of the Hong Kong Transplant Sports Association, said the success at the games had yet to be matched by Hongkongers' willingness to sign up to donate their organs.
According to the Hospital Authority, there were 44 kidney donations and 38 liver donations in the first half of this year, but there were 1,892 people waiting for kidneys and 117 waiting for livers.
