AN ATHLETE from Wrexham with a transplanted heart has been detailing his journey to winning two gold medals at the World Transplant Games.

Peter Nichols, from Coedpoeth, was an archer who competed in international tournaments before his transplant back in 2010, but was forced to put down the bow for seven years when he realised he was no longer strong enough to compete.

However, after deciding to give it another go last year, he has worked harder than ever and managed to capture two gold medals for Team GB at the World Transplant Games in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Speaking about his transplant back in 2010, the 59-year-old said: “I was competing in Las Vegas at the World Archery Festival, and when I returned home, I fell ill quite quickly.

“I went to the doctors to find out what was wrong with me and to my disbelief, they told me I was suffering from heart failure.

“They told me I was suffering from something called dilated cardiomyopathy, and that I would need to undergo a heart transplant.”

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a condition in which the heart's ability to pump blood is decreased because the heart's main pumping chamber, the left ventricle, is enlarged and weakened. In some cases, it prevents the heart from relaxing and filling with blood as it should.

Mr Nichols added: “I spent 10 weeks in hospital and six months at home recovering, during that time I didn’t pick up my bow, but I was hoping that when I fully recovered I would be able to go straight back to shooting at the level that I was before the transplant.

“That wasn’t the case, I had entered hospital in 2010 around 73kg and when I was fully done with my recovery in 2011, I was 56kg. I’d lost all of my upper body strength; I just wasn’t able to shoot my bow anymore.”

Mr Nichols said his journey back to competing again was the most strenuous time of his life, working harder than ever to build his strength back.

In late 2018, he decided the time was right to try and give archery another go and was elated to find he could shoot his old bow once again.

He said: “I had actually sold all of my old equipment apart from the actual bow itself because they were just collecting dust.

“My employer, Magellan Aerospace in Llay, actually sponsored me for a new set of bow limbs which I was so very grateful for and I didn’t want to let them down.

“I was so happy to find that I could shoot my old bow once again, and from then I started working towards competing once again.”

Mr Nichols decided to try out for the World Transplant Games, an international multi-sport event, occurring every two years, in which thousands of athletes participate.

The games took place in Newcastle between August 17-23.

He was selected as captain for Team GB and won two gold medals, one in an individual event and the other in a team event.

Speaking about his experience at the World Transplant Games, Mr Nichols said: “When we turned up, we actually had no idea who we were going to be competing against, but we went up against athletes from places like Australia, the United States, Canada, Germany and Iran.

“It was such a great time, a brilliant atmosphere. Everyone got along so well and that’s what I love about sport, there’s no politics.

“There were athletes there who’d had heart transplants, lungs, kidneys, bone marrow, eyes, it really is magnificent to see all these people who have gone through so much in their lives end up where they are.

“I was so proud and so happy to win two gold medals. The whole thing just brought back so many happy memories for me because some of my best moments have come from archery.

“It makes me realise just how lucky I really am to still be here; it makes you want to live your best life.

“I want to live my best life, not just for myself, but for the person who donated me their heart and their family as well.

“I would urge anyone who wishes to be an organ donor to make sure your next of kin knows, because thousands of donors organs don’t actually get donated because their next of kin stops it, not knowing that they wanted to be donors.

“It really can save so many people’s lives and give them another chance to achieve what they want to achieve in life.”