A transplant survivor who had his kidneys and liver removed is set to represent Great Britain in the upcoming World Transplant Games. 

Andy Taylor, 57, is one of 150 people to be selected to join the sporting event in Perth, Australia. 

An advisor for the Academic Registry at the University of Hertfordshire, Andy has been chosen to represent his country in badminton and table tennis at the international, multi-sport event.

The World Transplant Games aim to celebrate successful transplantation and raise awareness of the importance and benefits of organ donation.  

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Andy, who lives in Watford, has always been a keen sportsman, specialising in all racket sports.

He suffers from a hereditary condition called Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) - an inherited disorder that causes clusters of cysts to develop primarily within your kidneys, causing your kidneys to enlarge and lose function over time.  

"My father had Polycystic Kidney Disease, so I grew up knowing there was a 50/50 chance I would also have it," Andy explains. 

"However, it was not until 1999. when I was 34, and I had to conduct an insurance-related medical check, that I was also diagnosed. 

"I was fortunate to not suffer any major symptoms until I was 45, when my kidney condition got progressively worse and I started to become very tired and cold all the time.

"I had to restrict my diet and was told in 2012 I would need a transplant within two years."  

Andy had a double nephrectomy in 2014 when both kidneys were removed. 

During the operation, the hospital discovered that his liver also had the disease and as a result he would need both a kidney and liver transplant. 

This made it even trickier to find a suitable donor as both organs needed to come from the same person.

Andy went on the waiting list for a donor, not knowing when he would get the call from the transplant co-ordinator to say a matched donor had been found. 

The average wait for a transplant is two to three years.  

While waiting, Andy had to undergo dialysis three times a week, for five hours at a time, restrict his diet and his liquid intake to 500ml a day until a suitable donor could be found. 

He added: "I would work in the morning and then go to Watford General Hospital for dialysis.

"It was exhausting and, while I was grateful, it was hard. Your life gets put on hold. I was also getting bigger and bigger because of cysts growing on my liver. 

"I’m relatively small framed usually, but during dialysis I looked and felt like I was heavily pregnant.

"I was always cold and very tired, found breathing difficult, could not pull my trousers up and could not even tie my shoes."

Eventually, in 2016, a suitable doner was found for Andy and he underwent his transplant. It was a major operation, and he ended up spending 10 weeks in hospital due to complications from the 12-hour surgery.  

In the end, sport was the key to Andy’s recovery. He was aware of the World Transplant Games due to his father – an international athlete and kidney transplant recipient who competed in the British Transplant Games several times. 

Andy set his mind to becoming the next family member to reach the podium and succeeded.  

                                                                                                         

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He competed in his first World Transplant Games tournament in 2019, winning gold in the men’s doubles badminton and silver in men's table tennis.

He has since further competed in the British Transplant Games and the European Transplant Games in 2022, scooping up three medals in the process.  

Andy is now aiming to add a world gold medal to his medal collection at this year’s World Transplant Games. 

To support this ambition, the university has offered to provide Andy with regular court and gym time, access to coaching, student practise partners and sports massages.  

To support Andrew’s journey, go to justgiving.com/fundraising/AndyTaylorWTG2023.