Salt Lake City, UT: Richie’s Spirit Foundation is proud to announce the three athletes it will be sponsoring at this year’s Transplant Games of America in Salt Lake City, Utah. Over 50 athletes from across the country applied for funding, which will help with the cost of registration, travel, food, and lodging.
Elise Babin, 6 years old, from Houston, Texas, was born with biliary atresia and received a life-saving liver transplant in 2013 when she was 17 months old. Elise will be competing in Youth Bowling, Youth Olympiad, 25 yard Swim Freestyle, and Youth Basketball with Team Texas.
Jason Korbol, 32 years old, from Bloomington, Minnesota, is a living organ donor who is competing in his second Games. In 2013, Korbol donated a kidney to his mother. He is competing in Track & Field, Bowling, and Pickleball with Team Minnesota-Dakota.
Natalie Yates, 60 years old, from Memphis, Tennessee, is a two-time kidney transplant recipient. She received a kidney from a living donor in 1995 and and an organ donor in 2015. Yates is competing in Darts, Cornhole, Bowling, and the 5K Walk with Team Mid-South.
Held every other year, the Transplant Games of America are a multi-sport festival event to help promote the need for organ, eye, and tissue donation. The purpose is to show the world that transplantation is a treatment that does indeed work. This year marks the third Games in which Richie’s Spirit Foundation is a sponsor. The Games run from August 3 - 7 in Salt Lake City.
Richie’s Spirit Foundation promotes organ donation to people of all ages through education awareness programs, grants to honor Richie’s memory, and inspiring others to live life with a positive spirit.