Dean and Scott Ashby, top players who have represented England at the highest level are taking on a new challenge later this year at the World Transplant Games which are taking place between 17-24 August in Dresden, Germany.
The Games were first held in Portsmouth, UK, way back in 1978 and the Games has grown to become the world’s largest awareness event for transplant recipients, their families and supporters, donor families and living donors.
The Games has been held on the continents of North America, South America, Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe. This will be the first time the Games will be held in Germany and it will attract around 3,000 participants from over 60 nations.
Scott and Dean’s story is an inspirational one that underlines the special bond between brothers. After Scott had received the life-changing diagnosis of kidney failure, Dean stepped forward to see if he might be compatible with his brother for a donation. After an anxious time for the whole family while tests were undertaken, it was confirmed that a transplant was possible.
Following major surgery, it was incredible to watch the two brothers begin their recovery journey which also played out on the pétanque pitch as they used the health and medical challenge as a motivation to qualify for English national representation. It was amazing to watch as along with teammate Jason White they successfully competed through the 2023 English qualification process to get the nod for the European Triples Championships in Albertville, France.
Joined by Reece Gould, to make up the team, England performed very well and the team supported by coach Rowland Jones advanced into the final 16 knockout stage where they were only narrowly defeated by an excellent Sweden team.
Scott will be competing in the Petanque singles and doubles recipient competitions while Dean will be competing in the pétanque singles, the 50m freestyle swim and the long jump donor competitions.
Entirely self-funded. the boys have launched a crowdfund to cover the costs of registration, travel and accommodation. Their target is £2,000 and they are already close to being halfway there.
P365 is fully behind the duo’s fundraising efforts and we encourage everyone to show their support. You can give a donation no matter how small to support the boys by clicking on the button below.
Add Comment