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MAIDEN Gully teen Cooper Hale will travel to Sydney next month to defend his title at the Australian Transplant Games.
The 12-year-old won the Donate Life Fun Run three kilometre dash when the games were last held and became the inaugural recipient of the Ethan ‘Jimmy’ Seccull “Yeah Me Do” award for first junior male.
“I’m trying to go for that again this year,” Cooper said.
In addition to athletics, the bone marrow allograft and stem cell transplant recipient will compete in swimming and tennis.
“I can’t wait to go,” Cooper said.
Sydney is hosting this year’s games, which run from September 24 to October 1.
The Australian Transplant Games are biennial and alternate between Sydney and Melbourne.
Both transplant recipients and donors are invited to attend and compete.
Cooper’s mother, Kirsten Hale, said one of her most emotional memories of the most recent games was the moment the Seccull family realised they were presenting their award to a transplant recipient.
Its namesake, Ethan ‘Jimmy’ Seccull, was a Wallace toddler who died after being struck by a Ballarat-bound train in 2011.
Parents Jon and Michelle Seccull decided their son would become an organ donor after medical experts advised he would not survive.
Cooper first competed in the 2014 games, in Melbourne, about 12 months after his transplant.
“It was a really good, positive environment to listen to other people’s stories,” Mrs Hale said.
It’s a family event for the Hales, who learnt about the games from an oncologist.
“We’re doing some little runs around the block, with Mum and Dad and the boys,” Cooper said.
Mrs Hale said Cooper had always enjoyed and participated in sport, but used to struggle in comparison to his peers.
He had severe aplastic anaemia, which meant his body was not making enough blood cells.
Symptoms included fatigue, shortness of breath and pallor.
Mrs Hale said Cooper’s athletic performance had drastically improved since his transplant, at age nine.
“His endurance and stamina is amazing,” she said.
“I go out for a run with him now and he smashes me.”
Cooper said the games were a reminder of how lucky he was to have survived his condition and how grateful he was to his brother Lachlan for saving him.
Transplant Australia chief executive officer Chris Thomas said the games encouraged Australians to register as an organ and tissue donor.
“Our athletes demonstrate living proof that transplantation saves lives,” he said.
“What’s more, it allows them a quality of life they might not have experienced for years. They can start a family, play sport, get back into the workforce – all because of the generosity of someone else.”