On a quest for more gold

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT BEACH - Just four years ago, Inger Jessen couldn’t walk from

the car into her Huntington Beach home.

Now, a gold and bronze breaststroke medalist, Jessen is raising money

to go back for another gold in the 13th World Transplant games, which

will be held in Kobe, Japan, this summer.

Jessen, 59, traded in her failing heart four years ago for one from a

19-year-old who died tragically in a car accident. In appreciation of

that gift and her renewed health, Jessen competed in the last World

Transplant games two years ago in Budapest, Hungary.

“It’s showing the world what you can do -- to thank the family just

getting in there,” she said.

Determined to see Jessen compete again, the women at the Newport Beach

YMCA, where Jessen trains three times a week, are throwing a luncheon for

her today to raise money for her trip to Japan.

“She has been in my class, we know her story, we know her son, it’s

really what the [YMCA] is all about,” said Pepa Dodge, Jessen’s water

aerobics instructor. The YMCA “is about helping each other, loving each

other, being there for each other and supporting each other.”

At a cost of $3,000, Jessen was not sure she would compete this year.

“At the YMCA, all the ladies said, ‘We made up your mind for you,”’

she said. “It’s not only about me, it’s about donor awareness because

we’re really short of donors.”

There are 77,330 people in the United States alone waiting for a

transplant of some kind, according to the United Network for Organ

Sharing. More than 4,000 of those patients are waiting for a heart, and

more than 49,000 need a kidney transplant.

The World Transplant games, sponsored by the National Kidney

Foundation, are not only a celebration of life but also a call for help,

Jessen said.

This year, 64 transplant recipients from California to New Jersey,

Minnesota to Texas will travel to Kobe to compete in myriad games,

including golf, tennis, volleyball, cycling and bowling.

There will be participants from more than 40 different countries. By

competing, these fighters will raise awareness about what being an organ

donor can mean.

Jessen has survived the same coronary artery disease, which took her

son at the age of 30 and her father also.

She lives life with a renewed energy. She suffered her first heart

attack 20 years ago and now is able to train at the YMCA three mornings a

week and at the pool at Corona del Mar High School three evenings a week.

The luncheon supporting Jessen will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

today at the YMCA at 2300 University Ave., Newport Beach. For $7 for an

adult and $3 per child, there will be a homemade international buffet and

hot dogs for children.