JUST DONATE IT: a documentary short about the World Transplant Games

There are nearly 120,000 organ transplants performed each year worldwide. For patients receiving the ‘gift of life’, transplantation represents a new chapter in the life-long journey of illness self-management. The World Transplant Games is a biennial event designed to promote organ donation by demonstrating the health and fitness that can be achieved post-transplant. The games also provides an opportunity for patients to engage in physical activity, to say thank you to their donors (living or deceased) and to find solidarity with a community of other patients. This 6-minute documentary short explores the experiences of two World Transplant Games athletes in an attempt to creatively represent findings of empirical research through film. The film provides insight into how sport invites patients to experience health and illness in new ways through building social connections and testing the limits of physical capabilities afforded by their new organ.