– I am very happy that what we have been preparing for since 2019, we have now achieved success, as this was the first international competition opportunity for transplant recipients as a result of the Covid pandemic. The medal plaque speaks for itself – Judit Berenti, EB Team Leader and President of the Hungarian Society of Transplantation, named Disabled Athlete of the Year in 2020, gave a quick assessment.
Eight livers, four heart and lungs, thirty-one kidneys and five bone marrow transplant recipients, as well as two Hungarian competitors who received artificial kidney treatment, participated in the European Championships held in Oxford with the participation of 26 countries. They measured their strength in twelve sports (table tennis, athletics, bowling, darts, bicycle, petanque, squash, tennis, volleyball, badminton, swimming, and virtual triathlon). Swimming, athletics, table tennis and bowling were the most successful sports, but petanque also brought in more gold.
Among the successful Hungarian competitors, there were 3 athletes from the province of Csongrád-Csanád:
Bernat Bachi, a 44-year-old table tennis player living in Szeged, had his life saved by a bone marrow transplant in 2012. He has been playing sports since childhood, and table tennis has always occupied a special place in his life. He not only goes to training every day, but also works as a coach. In 2019, he already participated in the World Organ Transplant Games, but participated in the European Organ Transplant and Arthritis Championship for the first time. In the singles final of the table tennis tournament, he had a very difficult match – and even – with his Portuguese opponent, which ended in Bernat’s victory, thus becoming the gold medalist.
In the men’s doubles competition, he was able to stand on top of the podium with his table tennis partner Janos Zende, and in the mixed doubles competition with his kidney transplant partner Irma Toth, thus finishing the European Championship with a three-time European Champion.
33-year-old Dávid Déri from Csánádpalota had a liver transplant since 2005. A few years after his successful transplant, he started exercising more seriously, first swimming and then switching to triathlon. In this European Championship, the three events of the virtual triathlon were a 5km run, a 400m race and a 21km bike ride, at the end of which David finished the competition with a gold medal and European Champion.
One of the most experienced competitors in the Hungarian team lives in Szentes: László Pengő is a 70-year-old athlete who underwent a heart transplant two years ago. He practiced sports all his life, water sports always attracted him the most, and his love of swimming and water polo accompanied him throughout his journey. After the heart transplant, he gradually returned to the pool, successfully participated in local competitions several times, but managed to prove himself for the first time at the international competition for transplant recipients: he won the European age group championship in the 50-meter backstroke, and then won silver medals in the freestyle distance 50 m, freestyle 100 m, backstroke 100 m and he can stand on the third stage of the podium. As a member of the 4×50m medley relay, they placed fifth with their teammates as the last number in the swimming competition.
