LIVER transplant boy Gareth Connor is celebrating a triple sporting success.

The 10-year-old, who was born in Blackburn, has just returned from the national Transplant games in Liverpool where he won three medals.

For his family it was an emotional occasion as the boy doctors said might not see his first birthday ran around with friends,

Gareth was born with the liver disease biliary artesia. His parents were told a liver transplant was his only hope.

He had his first transplant at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham when he was just 18 months old but his body rejected the organ. Six weeks later he had a second transplant, which was successful.

His grandmother, Ann Almond, of Ramsgreave Drive, Brownhill, Blackburn, said it was wonderful to watch Gareth win at the transplant games.

He scooped a silver medal in the obstacle race and bronze medals for badminton and table tennis. She said: "He was really excited. He put everything into it and enjoyed every minute.

"It was good for him to be with other children who had undergone transplants and he did really well."

The games were organised to mark the end of National Transplant Week, which aims to highlight the desperate shortage of organ donors.

Gareth now lives in Wrexham with his parents, Kathleen and John, and three brothers and sisters.

And although he still has some health problems, he has learned to cope. Ann explained: "Because of the drugs he has to take he has no immune system and he tends to catch a lot of things.".

"But he just takes it all in his stride because he has never known any different.

"He puts a lot into his life. He is top of his class in maths and his school thinks the world of him."

Gareth's family all carry donor cards now and Mrs Almond urged everyone to do the same.

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