Ronald Grainger
Age 66 | Kidney Recipient
Ron was diagnosed with an inherited degenerative kidney disorder at the of 32, and was aware that by his early 50’s, he would develop end stage renal failure and require renal replacement therapy, either dialysis or transplant. As chronic renal failure became a reality, his fitness levels deteriorated significantly. Receiving a kidney transplant at the age of 53 changed that. Immediately following his transplant, he set himself specific exercise goals as part of a rehabilitation programme to ensure as rapid a return as possible to a good level of fitness. Withiin 9 weeks post transplant, he returned to an extremely busy job as a Urological Surgeon and still maintained a reasonable level of fitness mainly by walking and golfing.
As Ron approached retirement, he decided to take a more serious approach to fitness. I participated in the European Transplant and Dialysis Games in 2014, obtaining various medals, and subsequently returned to gym
exercise and undertook a programme of resistance and weight training with a specific focus on training to run sprints.
He had not competed in any running events for 48 years but on returning to a programme of focussed exercise training, he was able to compete in golf, 100 metres, 200 metres, long jump, ball throw and 4 x 100 metres relay in the most recent European Transplant and Dialysis games in Vantaa, obtaining 4 gold medals and 1 bronze. Interestingly their relay team had runners aged 66, 39, 49 and 18. Age is no barrier!
Ron believes that exercise and fitness has improveded his sense of well being, increased his ability to undertake physical challenges and tasks which many men in my age group are unable to achieve and has given him great satisfaction.
“The gift of life as a result of receiving an organ transplant is something to be treasured. As with any precious gift, it should be cared for, protected and even proudly displayed. Keeping fit is one way of doing that, enabling yourself and others to see what a successfully transplanted organ can do to restore a wonderful quality of life. As I have proven, you are never too old. Fitness and health go hand in hand.”
