A TEENAGER showed he was leaps and bounds ahead of the opposition when he won gold in the long jump at the British Transplant Games.

Andrew Evans-Fisher, aged 15, of Tenbury Wells, got a hat-trick of medals at the games in Sheffield, winning gold in the long jump, silver in the 4x100m relay and bronze in the ball throw.

The athlete, who was competing for the Birmingham Children’s Hospital team and is a member of Bromsgrove and Redditch Athletics Club, had a kidney transplant in 2006 because of a blocked valve. He was just eight years old at the time of the transplant but the following year he decided to compete in the games and has done so successfully ever since, winning many medals.

His mother Carol Evans-Fisher said: “He moved up an age group and was up against some 17-year-olds. “He did very well to get so many medals competing against effectively adult men. He was a bit disappointed he didn’t win more medals, but we were really chuffed. He was really pleased with his gold in the long jump.”

His medals come on the back on a successful world transplant games in Durban, South Africa, which took place between July 28 and August 4 when he won a bronze in the 200 metres.

Graham Moore, chairman of the local organising committee for the British Games, said: “It’s a sad fact that three people die every day while waiting for a transplant. These lives need not be lost if more people added their names to the organ donor register and, importantly, shared their wishes with their loved ones.

“The games provide a vital channel through which to communicate the value of transplantation and in turn, boost the amount of names on the donor register.”

The aim of the games is to encourage transplant patients to regain fitness and to promote friendship and co-operation between individuals concerned with transplantation, while increasing public awareness of the value of organ donation.