"It's very hard to describe because we've been given another chance at life. I've had him eleven years longer." The speaker is Virginia McCaughan, whose husband John, now 66, received a new heart in 1991. His new heart was donated by a 19 year old woman who had died from asthma. Three weeks ago the McCaughan family finally met the donor family. "That was tough," Virginia says. "It was hard for them because they had lost their daughter, and it was hard for us because there are just no words to describe. . . ." She pauses, unable to finish, and then goes on to explain that her husband, a bowler with Team Virginia, won his first medal at the Games at the University of Southern California just eight months after his successful transplant. In gratitude, he gave that early medal to the donor family that saved his life.

Joan Fusco of Boston told a similar story about her husband Richard's double lung transplant a year ago. They have not met the donor family, she says. "We wrote them, but we don't know if they received our messages of thanks. Richard was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when only 6 months old, and now in his early 30s, he has seen a tremendous improvement in his quality of life. His wife says of his gold game, "It's pretty good, especially for someone who was on oxygen 24/7, even in the shower!"

"These games are super! When I saw him here two years ago, you'd never know there was anything wrong with him. It's awesome! Wonderful!" Cheryl Hawks, from Mt. Airy, North Carolina, is speaking proudly of her son, Kevin, the recipient of two kidney transplants. The first, in 1997, was from his mother, and a second proved necessary in 1999. Kevin, 18, has just graduated from high school, and he will be attending college in the fall. Kevin will be competing in tennis, 3x3 basketball, and the 5K run. Kevin's 9 year old brother Dillon is attending the games to cheer Kevin on.

Philadelphia's James Williams, 17, is here to support his grandmother, Millie Brown, a woman in her 50s who received a kidney in 1996 and is competing in bowling. James shakes his head in admiration: "She never stops moving. She's always on the go. She travels everywhere." The gift to a grandmother is being passed on to a grandson.

The sponsors play a large part in all the giving. Todd Norris of Hockessin, Delaware, describes how his daughter Alissa, 9, was one of the first beneficiaries of Roche Pharmaceutical's Bear Hugs Program. Alissa received a liver transplant in 1995 when she was 2 1/2. As part of the experience she had her picture taken with a stuffed bear given by Roche, and she loved it. Todd Norris is grateful to Roche, and also grateful to the donor family, the young parents of an only child who died from a head trauma. The parents immediately said yes to a request for a donation, and the simultaneous liver and heart transplants were a major news story at St. Christopher's Hospital in Philadelphia. The Norris family has not met the donor family, but they have given back by giving gifts to the hospital in the name of the donor. The giving continues.

Sometimes the wait for the gift is long. Erin Coulston tells how her brother, Todd, had to wait 4 1/2 years for a new liver. His San Francisco Bay area doctors told him that there were no livers available in northern California and that he would die waiting. Desperate, he called a number of different places, and finally Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Florida, told him to come to them to be listed for a transplant. His wife was 8 months pregnant at the time, so labor was induced and their baby boy was born on May 2, 2001. On May 9 the family -- six people including Erin and Todd's parents and the baby boy -- flew to Florida, and on May 22, the transplant was completed. Like most of the transplant gifts, it was given to an entire family.

Kim Miley of Birmingham, Alabama, received the gift of her daughter. Brooke, now 6, was "days away from death" when she was 15 months old. After an agonizing 5-week wait, she received her new heart in an operation that her mother describes as "100% successful." Brooke is here competing in cycling, bowling, and track and field. Back home she is active in soccer and gymnastics. She also gives back through her participation in the Girl Scouts, where she has earned her donor awareness merit badge.

"Transplantation works," states Bennie Marshall, a Chicago resident who received a new liver in 2000, just 3 hours before doctors thought he would die. "We need more." He has made himself an outspoken advocate for transplantation. He noted that in Illinois alone, 4700 people were waiting for liver donations when he received his, but only 209 were available. "I want there to be no waiting list," he says. "God wants the souls. He doesn't want the bodies." Bernie is here competing in basketball and the softball toss. And he is here helping to spread the word that transplantation works. It's another way to give back.

"My son was just 5 months old when I was diagnosed," says heart recipient Sarah Woolcock of St. Joseph, Michigan. "Now I get to see him grow up." Max is now 11. She describes being flown to Chicago in a blizzard, the same week that Walter Payton announced that he needed a liver. "My son thinks it's not fair that I get two birthdays a year," she smiles, "so we give him two birthdays, too. But not with presents." His best present is to have his mom.

Colleen Guyer of Valparaiso, Indiana, received her liver on Mother's Day of 1986 when she was 21. An avid Chicago Bears fan, she recalls waiting for her evaluation while watching Walter Payton help win the Super Bowl. She was given 6 months to live. With one week left she received a heart from an 18 year old Wisconsin man, Kevin, who had died of a gunshot. Colleen has been given the gift of restarting her life. She finished school, got married, and had a son, Jordon, 12, who is here with his family to watch his mom compete in golf (she won the gold medal in 1998), the race walk, and possibly the high jump. She has also started her own business, a hair salon. An athlete before her transplant, she attributes her successes to her positive attitude. That's a gift she wants to pass along.

"We didn't donate an organ or anything," says retired geologist Ted Fisk, a young-looking 85. "We just donated our selves." He and his wife Peggy, currently living in nearby Lakeland, Florida, are volunteers working at the games for the second time. "It's so rewarding," Peggy states. "No money can beat the thrill we get from helping." The spirit of giving is keeping them young. In giving, you receive.

Rob Gordon is giving in different ways. After 27 years as a transplant surgeon, he is watching the Opening Ceremony in the role of Medical Director of Roche Pharmaceuticals, a gold sponsor of the Transplant Games. He noted seeing a number of his former patients here in Orlando, people he had not seen in years. "Some of them I did not recognize," he admits, "because they were so sick when I saw them years ago, and they look so healthy now."

That healthy look is due to all the giving evident in the people here at the games.