India's transplant patients turned athletes shine with 63 medals at World Games
NEW DELHI: About 57 Indian athletes, all of them either organ recipients or donors have returned home with a remarkable haul of 63 medals from the 2025 World Transplant Games held in Germany, proving that life after transplant is not only possible but also powerful.
The tally included 16 gold, 22 silver, and 23 bronze medals across diverse sporting disciplines.
Among the standout performers was Jaskaran Singh, a veterinary doctor from Chandigarh who donated a kidney to his ailing wife a couple of years ago. Singh clinched four gold medals and a silver, earning him the title of Outstanding Donor Athlete of the Games.
“There is a myth that people who donate or receive organs cannot live a normal life. I never felt even once that I had only one kidney,” Singh said.
“Through sports, we want to spread awareness and show that differently-abled people should be included in society just like anyone else," he added.
Rajasthan’s Ramdev Singh, who underwent a kidney transplant from his mother in 2012, added four medals to India’s tally, including a gold, a silver, and two bronze in the fiercely contested Track and Field 30–39 category.
The Anand family from Bangalore created history by bagging 13 medals between them.
Former Army shot putter Satyawan Panghal, who returned to the field after a kidney transplant in 2021, secured two golds and a silver. Thirteen-year-old Ishaan Anekar, who overcame Alport syndrome and received a transplant in 2021, won two golds and a silver in swimming, drawing admiration from audiences worldwide.
The athletes competed against 1,600 participants from 51 countries across 17 sports. Organ India, which founded and fielded the team, said the medals carried a meaning far beyond sport. “These wins are not just sporting achievements but also powerful social statements. Each medal challenges the stigma around organ donation by showing the world that life after transplant is full of possibilities, strength, and triumph,” the organisation said in a statement.
Applauding the team’s performance, Mallika Nadda, Chairperson of the Special Olympics Organisation and the chief guest at the event, said she would push for transplant sports to be brought under the National Sports Federation. “We can meet the Sports Minister and discuss how this can be part of the federation because it is similar to the Special Olympics,” she said.
For India’s transplant athletes, the medals were more than symbols of sporting excellence. They stood as proof that a new life after donation or transplant can be lived with strength, purpose, and pride.