Almost a decade ago, Bill Soloway couldn’t walk from his bed to the bedroom door without feeling exhausted.
“It was like Mount Everest,” he told The Times.
This Yardley resident was in congestive heart failure from familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, an inherited condition that causes the heart muscle to become thick, making it difficult for blood to leave the heart and putting it under much strain. The same condition took the life of Soloway’s brother at the age of 27.
Soloway could hardly live a normal life, let alone participate in his longtime favorite passion of cycling. Though he once biked thousands of miles a year, simple tasks, such as getting out of bed and walking a few feet, were nearly impossible.
That is, until he became a heart transplant recipient nine years ago. Within a few short months, Soloway was not only back on his beloved bike, but peddling for a medal in the Transplant Games of America.
Over the past three-plus decades, this Olympics-style competition, which took place this year July 5-10 in Birmingham, Alabama, has brought together organ, cornea and tissue transplant recipients, living donors and donor families to celebrate life and raise awareness about the importance of organ donation. Held every two years, the Transplant Games include sports such as swimming, track and field, basketball, bowling and, of course, cycling.
Aside from 2020 and 2022, due to COVID, Soloway has competed in every offering of the biennial competition since becoming a heart transplant recipient in 2015. At the Transplant Games, Soloway is a force to be reckoned with. The 58-year-old earned back-to-back bronze medals in 2018 and 2024 for cycling, in addition to medals in badminton (singles and doubles).
“The Games were motivation for me to not be a couch potato. Transplant recipients are encouraged to exercise and gain mobility and get their lives back during the healing process, so this was the impetus for me to do that, to train for a targeted date,” Soloway said. “I am very thankful that the Games exist because, had it not been for that, I probably wouldn’t have been as motivated to getting my life back.”
At the Transplant Games, Soloway was part of Team Philadelphia for Gift of Life Donor Program, the federally-designated organ procurement organization for the eastern half of Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware. According to Annie Busarello, event specialist for Gift of Life, the OPO has been competing in the Transplant Games since the competition’s inception, and typically has the most athletes participating.
“This year, we had more than 140 total attendees from our region,” she said. “And we were lucky to have at least one athlete in every competition they had available.”
In addition to Soloway, Team Philadelphia had another member from Bucks County, Joanne Coyne, a 58-year-old liver recipient from Croydon who participated in bowling singles and doubles, pickleball and volleyball, marking her first year competing in the Transplant Games. Coyne’s journey began after her rheumatologist saw something concerning in her bloodwork and recommended that she see a liver specialist.
“If it wasn’t for my rheumatologist, I may have gotten help too late,” she said.
After being put on the transplant list on her 50th birthday, Coyne received her new liver on Feb. 17, 2016. She’s thrilled to be alive and enjoying friendly competition against fellow transplant recipients.
“The Transplant Games were absolutely amazing. It was hard to believe that I played sports with double lung recipients and someone who had a kidney transplant 45 years ago. It was simply mind blowing,” she said. “None of us would be here if it wasn’t for the donor families and the living donors. Thank you to all of them for the gift of life they gave to us recipients.”
In total, Team Philadelphia earned an impressive 125 medals: 70 gold, 30 silver and 25 bronze. Athletes included those of all abilities and ages, from 8 to almost 80. For Soloway and the rest of the athletes, earning a shiny badge of achievement wasn’t the most important aspect of the Transplant Games.
“The point of the Games is for like people to come together who experienced the journey of transplant, and to be able to talk about their experience and share things, the commonalities of what they’ve been through,” said Soloway. “And my real motivation was to win a medal to give to my donor’s family. That was one of the ways I wanted to say, ‘Thank you.’ ”
The heart that gave him a second chance at life belonged to James E. Zimmerman Jr., a U.S. Marine who was 11 years younger than Soloway. Only a small percentage of transplant recipients communicate with their donor’s family, and Soloway considers himself lucky to be part of that population.
Soloway and Jim Zimmerman Sr. might not see eye-to-eye on some things when it comes to sports (Zimmerman, of Pittsburgh, is a staunch Steelers and Pirates fan, while Soloway roots for the Phillies and Eagles), but Zimmerman is supportive of Soloway’s involvement in the Transplant Games. Since living donors and donor families are also encouraged to participate, Zimmerman joined Team Philadelphia this year, despite residing in Pittsburgh.
“To have him be part of the Games on Team Philly was just very special to me,” said Soloway. “I won three medals, one in cycling and two in badminton. Jim was able to present those medals to me, and then I turned around and I presented them back to him because certainly I would not be able to do these things had it not been for his son saying ‘yes’ to organ donation.”
The 50th anniversary of Gift of Life was recognized during the Games, with the organization working to secure 50,000 new organ donors. While studies show that 98 percent of Pennsylvanians believe in organ donation, less than 50 percent of them are registered to be an organ donor.
“In our region alone, there are over 5,000 people on the waiting list,” said Busarello. “So we’d love to be able to provide hope for the people on the waiting list.”
This can be done at the DMV or, for those who want to register but are uncomfortable with having their organ donation status on their license, they can visit donors1.org.
Samantha Bambino can be reached at sbambino@newspapermediagroup.com
