A BRITISH athlete who has won four gold medals at the World Transplant Games wants to spread her message of the importance of life after transplant.

Joan Bell, 71, competed in the world games in the track and field event in Malaga, Spain, taking on competitors in the over 70s group.

She claimed gold medals for the 400m, 800m, 1500m and 5k events.

There were more than 1,000 athletes in the games representing more than 52 countries who were aged from four to 80.

The annual world games promote the message of the importance of organ donation by showing how recipients can achieve health and fitness after undergoing a transplant.

Ms Bell, of St Charles Way, Wickford, said: “The games are an opportunity for organ recipients all over the world to celebrate the gift of life.”

Ms Bell was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease when she was 40. She received her kidney transplant in 1998 at the Royal London Hospital.

Ms Bell described it as a life changing experience.

After the operation, she decided to dedicate her life to the importance of promoting organ transplants and she saw this opportunity at the World Transplant Games. She competed in her first world games in Japan in 2001, where she won her first gold medal in the women’s singles Badminton event.

In the 2017 games, 175 British athletes competed in the games and Britain and North Ireland topped the medal charts winning a total of 360 medals, with 166 gold, 90 silver and 140 Bronze.

“When I received my transplant it was a life changing experience for me,” said Ms Bell. “ I’ve always told myself to make the most of what I have been given by my donor.”

Ms Bell waited almost three years for her kidney transplant. She described her experience as daunting as she did not know how long she had to wait.

“My condition is hereditary so I knew it was coming.

“My sister had kidney failure but she died from it.

“I was on dialysis, and I was just waiting for this call from the hospital to tell me if there was a donor. Some people wait ten years so I was pretty lucky.

“I was very happy when I got that call, but really it’s mixed feelings because you know your life was saved but there was another person who gave up his or her chance to live, to gift you another chance of life.”

She works to raise awareness of organ donation and speaks to patients at the Royal London Hospital who have recently received a transplant to encourage them to live a healthy and happy life.

Ms Bell says organ donation is the greatest gift in life. “I am willing to help somebody to have a second chance in life, just like how I have received mine.

“We need to have more organ donors as three people die a day waiting for organ transplants.

“The real champions are those who gave someone the second chance in life.”