PHILADELPHIA – Two Camden County residents won big at the 2016 Donate Life Transplant Games earlier this month.
Santosh Balany of Cherry Hill.
Courtesy of Janette McVey Romano, Courier Post.
Astrid Deleon, of Lindenwold, and Santhosh Balany, of Cherry Hill, traveled to Cleveland to compete on the Gift of Life Donor Program’s Team Philadelphia, going head-to-head with more than 6,000 athletes from across the country. The event took place from June 10-15.
The Transplant Games is a biennial Olympic-style competition for organ, corneal, bone marrow and tissue transplant recipients and living donors.
Team Philly was made up of 78 organ transplant recipients, 15 living donors and 26 donor family members. The team, ranging from ages 6 to 73, dominated the Games, bringing home about 100 medals – 25 bronze, 35 silver and 40 gold.
Team Philadelphia, organized by Gift of Life Donor Program, has been in existence since the Transplant Games was founded in 1990.