Leeds man wins Transplant Games gold on home soil after decade of competing

John Dunwell, of Kirkstall, was diagnosed with a rare kidney disease at the age of aged 11 and had to go on kidney dialysis, before a kidney transplant aged 14 at Leeds Children's Hospital.

Since then, he has competed in the football tournament of the British Transplant Games every year for the past decade, but was always left trophy-less.

However, after a dramatic late winner in the 2022 final last week, John finally had the chance to claim silverware for himself and Team Leeds.

John, 25, who works as a teaching assistant, said: “I am still buzzing from it now even though it was about a week ago.

“Truth be told, I used to train and train beforehand, but this year, I just rocked up, laced my boots up in the morning and cracked on.”

The final itself was full of drama, as John and his teammates secured a dramatic late winner in the final to beat Team Nottingham to the trophy.

John added: “Someone took a shot and it bounced off one of their players in the last 30 seconds.

"It was a bit crazy, but we were all over them, to be fair.

"I’ve competed for the past 10 years, so this has been a long, long time coming!”

Bradford City fan John was diagnosed with Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis in 2009 when he was 11.

He soon started having kidney dialysis at LGI for up to four hours three or four times a week – after three months, he moved on to having home dialysis for 11 hours every night.

In November 2011, John underwent a kidney transplant operation at Leeds Children's Hospital.

John’s troubles with his health had an impact on his education, having only left school with just a handful of low grade GCSEs.

But so determined was John, he gained an Open University honours degree in physical education and sports coaching in 2020, after studying at The University Centre in Leeds.

He said: “My plan is to keep going and playing football more outside the transplant games, and keep trying to progress and go from strength to strength, as much as I can.”