Popular footballer Adam Hughes from Tenby was part of the successful Wales Transplant Football Team that won the Silver Medal at the Westfield Health British Transplant Games held in Newport last week.

Transplant Sport teams are based on hospitals and for the first time this year Wales had a national team taking part in sports such as track and field, swimming, golf, netball, badminton and darts amongst many others.

The team included players from Cardiff and Swansea hospitals and other Welsh players such as the football goalkeeper and captain Ywain Shakespeare from the Rhondda, who had a liver transplant at Birmingham. Other players came from all over Wales.

Wales narrowly lost the intensely contested final 1-0 to the Oxford team, having beaten London in the semi-final. A combined Manchester, Leeds, Nottingham and Newcastle side won the Bronze.

Adam, the former Carew FC player and manager was also chosen as the football ‘Player of the Tournament’ and was presented with a medal by the Oxford and GB Football Team Manager Daley Cross,

Next on the agenda for Adam are the World Transplant Games where he has been selected as part of the Great Britain Football Team. The WTG are to be held in Newcastle/Gateshead in August.

The British Transplant Games had over 1,000 competitors of all ages and a very moving opening ceremony was held prior to the games at the Rodney Parade Ground, Newport.

All teams from all corners of the UK paraded around the ground to rapturous applause, but the largest cheers were reserved for the ‘Donor Families Association’, without who’s generosity and courage in taking the decision to donate the organs of their loved ones, many of the competitors of all ages would sadly not be with us.

The Donor Family Association presented a trophy to Transplant Sport of two hands holding a baton to be present at all games and following a hugely successful event at Newport, this was handed over to the organising team at Coventry where the 2020 British Transplant Games are to be held.