Transplant Games Pay Tribute To Organ Donors, Recipients

By Jason Williams

Post staff reporter

Greg Osterman has heard the heart-warming stories about the U.S. Transplant Games.

Donor family meets transplant recipient for the first time.

''Oh, God yeah, that would be something,'' said Osterman, a heart transplant recipient who is among the eight athletes from Greater Cincinnati competing in the games at Walt Disney World's Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla., begin ning Wednesday. ''I've heard it's pretty emotional.

''Everybody has in the back of their mind those people who gave them a second chance at life. Then - boom - there they are. The thought is kind of overwhelming.''

Osterman, however, doesn't anticipate meeting the family of the woman who donated her heart to him in 1992, when he competes in the 5K road race as one of 77 members on Team Ohio.

Donor families generally remain separated from the situation. It's too emotional. Often, both donor and recipient are anonymous to each other.

Through his doctors at University Hospital, Osterman obtained the address of his donor's family, writing to tell them of his appreciation about three months after his surgery. All Osterman knows is that he has the heart of an 18-year-old woman from Dayton, Ohio. The family has never contacted him.

''I think the only way (the meeting) could happen is to be talking to someone from (the donor's) area,'' said Tracy Desch, a three-time kidney transplant recipient who will be competing in her sixth Games. ''If you tell them what day (the transplant) was, then maybe it could happen.''

Desch, 32, who received her first transplant in 1984 from her brother, Christopher, never has met the families of the other two donors, both deceased, in 1987 and '89. All the Loveland resident knows is the kidneys came from the Cleveland and Columbus areas.

Though a rare occurence, however, these tearful encounters do happen. A highlight video for the Transplant Games shows a goosebump- inducing meeting between a woman and her donor family.

''It's a healing process for the donor family, especially those who have lost a loved one,'' said Don Slobodien, executive director of the National Kidney Foundation of Ohio. ''The donor has feelings of guilt. It's a healing process for everyone.''

Osterman, competing in the Transplant Games for the first time, has participated in four marathons the past two years. He said his interest in running was borne of his poor health in the early 1990s. Five months after receiving the new heart, which he needed after being diagnosed with cardiomyopathy in 1990, Osterman was diagnosed with cancer, which doctors attributed in part to his heart medication.

Osterman, a 46-year-old engineer from Loveland, began walking as a way to refresh his body soon after the cancer treatments were complete in 1994. Walking led to jogging, which led to some five-kilometer races in 1994, then 15K races in '95. Osterman ran his first marathon in 1998, becoming the first heart-transplant recipient to run in the Bank of Buttermilk Marathon in Bermuda.

''You're sick for so long,'' he said, ''just getting back to normal is so special.''

Copyright © 2000 The Cincinnati Post.

This article posted June 23, 2000.