A little over a year ago, I couldn't walk unaided

This summer, I will be representing Royal Papworth at the British Transplant Games in Sheffield, competing in discus, javelin, shot put and archery.

That is a sentence I never imagined I would be able to write.

I became seriously ill with heart failure and eventually needed a heart transplant. My recovery began with the smallest possible steps. Learning to stand again. Walking short distances. Rebuilding the strength that months in hospital had taken away.

Since then, I have trained relentlessly. I have spent hundreds of hours in the gym, walked millions of steps and started learning four sports I had never previously attempted.

I still want to win. I would be lying if I said otherwise.

But the British Transplant Games are about far more than medals.

They bring together transplant recipients from across the country and show what can be possible after organ transplantation. Some people will be there to compete seriously. Others will simply be celebrating the fact that they are alive, active and able to take part.

Every competitor has already been through something that could have ended very differently.

The Games also honour the donors and families whose decisions made those second chances possible. I think about my donor and their family every day. Being able to compete is one way of showing what their gift allowed me to do.

I will be taking part as a member of the Royal Papworth team, alongside other heart and lung transplant recipients treated at the hospital.

In 2025, the team brought home an incredible 50 medals and won the much-coveted Best Heart and Lung Hospital trophy. This year, we hope to make Royal Papworth proud all over again.

Royal Papworth Charity provides funding that helps transplant recipients attend the Games and represent the hospital that cared for them.

That support matters.

The Games give patients the chance to reconnect with their confidence, meet people who understand what they have been through and experience something positive after months or years dominated by hospitals, medication and uncertainty.

For some recipients, charitable support may be what makes attending possible.

Your donation will help Royal Papworth Charity continue supporting transplant patients and the Royal Papworth Games team.

It will help people who have already fought incredibly hard reach Sheffield, stand alongside their transplant community and show that transplantation can offer far more than survival.

It can offer a proper life.

Any donation, whatever the amount, will be genuinely appreciated. Sharing the page will help too.

Thank you for supporting me, the Royal Papworth team and the hospital that gave so many of us another chance.

I will do everything I can to make you proud in Sheffield.