SATSA athletes are proud to be competing at the World Transplant Games 2025, flying the flag high and earning medals where they can.
South Africa (02 July 2025) – As human beings, we all face different challenges in life. In overcoming them, we grow, become resilient in the most extraordinary ways, and even though all of us deserve our own survival medallion, there are some of us who are defying odds by just being alive.
Imagine, due to illness, failure, or accident, you find yourself in need of an organ transplant to survive. According to Western Cape Government statistics, about 1 in 500 people need a life-saving organ transplant in South Africa. Currently, about 4,700 people are on a waiting list for a lifesaving organ transplant. To make odds difficult, organ donation in ratio to the need, is at about 10%.
Transplant recipients are in themselves extraordinary, and inspiring not only for fighting to stay alive long enough to receive a life-saving organ due to the organ donor shortages, but also beating the odds of matching with their donors in body size, organ size, blood type and tissue type. Then they, with teams of highly trained specialist, overcome the challenges of surgery, replacing the organ, and recovering, often in isolation due to their exposure. After surviving, they live as heroes defying odds of death and as living, breathing second chances, not taking life for granted. Among these true survivors, there are a large group that not only live life, but they also take on sports and athletics at the competitive level to live life to the max.
SATSA (South African Transplant Sports Association) creates opportunities for transplantees to compete in various sports, and these athletes, who come from all age groups and walks of life, not only compete at a national level. An amazing team of 66 athletes qualified for the World Transplant Games being hosted in Dresden, Germany, this year.
Though it is almost impossible to single out any of the amazing athletes, among the team is Mignon Joubert. At 15, she is living her best life as the youngest team member after a successful kidney transplant donated by her mother. On the other end of the spectrum of age, there are four athletes over seventy, Heilie Uys, Mike Reeves, Nora Simpson, and Gerhard van Dyk, holding the flag high for thriving at the international level in sports.
This great achievement is not a first for SATSA’s amazing athletes, South Africa has been a member of the World Transplant Games Federation since 1995 and placed third in 2013, 2015 and 2017. After placing fifth among fifty countries competing in the World Transplant Games in August 2024, the team is well-prepared and ready to put up a good fight in this year’s games.
The amazing team of SATSA athletes competing at the World Transplant Games 2025 can be seen below:
Winston Baadtjies heating up the cycling scene post liver transplant in 2018.
Hellie Uys, veteran team member competing in golf and athletics. With 10 National Transplant Games, 9 World Transplant Games, 29 Gold Medallions, 9 Silver and 1 Bronze she is a pillar of team with no less than 7 world records under her belt.
Jan Marais, Transplant Team member, and Executive Secretary of SATSA since 2021.
Mignon Joubert [15], competing with her mother Esmé who also qualified for the games being her kidney donor in the long 5 Km.
You can support the team by following along via the website or Instagram.
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