5:10pm Thursday 2nd September 2010
By Helen Morton
TWO young Basingstoke boys have returned triumphant from the British Transplant Games.
Jonathan Cowdrey, 11, and Matthew Snazell, 10 have become firm friends after competing against each other in the annual event.
This year Jonathan was awarded five medals, including gold in the badminton singles event.
Matthew reached the final of the 50 metre run and won a medal for the tug-of-war event at the games, which were held in Bath from August 19 to 22.
The friends, who met at the Transplant Games two years ago, have both battled through tough times to get where they are today.
Jonathan, from Gander Drive, Sherborne St John, was diagnosed as a baby with biliary atresia - a rare condition which damages the liver in newborns. At five months old, he was on the transplant list and received a new liver when he was eight months old.
He won his first silver medal at the British Transplant Games aged just two in a 25 metre race.
At the time he was suffering from glandular fever, but his parents only found out after the games.
Jonathan was also diagnosed with bowel cancer and endured several operations, having eight centimetres of his bowel removed and a tumour the size of a golf ball cut out.
His mum, Sharon, 43, said she was proud of his achievements.
She added: “Because Jonathan was so young when he started getting ill, he’s always just accepted the hospital visits and the health problems as part of his life. He’s had to miss quite a lot of school but has managed to get to the point now where he’s doing quite well in his studies.”
She said her son and Matthew were inseparable throughout the games, and added: “I think they help to push each other within the competition and enjoy the friendly rivalry.”
Matthew had a kidney transplant when he was three years old because of a rare genetic disorder called congenital nephrotic syndrome, caused by a defect in kidney protein.
Mum Christine, from Forest Drive, Chineham, said: “I’m really proud of how far Matthew has come.
“He did really well at the games and I know Jonathan and Matthew really spur each other on to do well.
“He does have difficulty exercising but he’s as active as he can be.”
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