Man enters 10km race after third kidney transplant

A MAN from Kaimakli has entered a 10km half-marathon in Athens after having experiencing his third kidney transplant in May of this year.

Marios Markou, who is 45 years old and a father of three children, also had kidney transplants in 1984 and 1993.

“Most transplantees in Cyprus do not exercise, they are afraid.” said Markou “But outside Cyprus, especially in northern Europe, this is not the case. There you find people who’ve had a transplant exercising at a level very close to the strenuousness undertaken by professional athletes. And not just at a young age either, but at ages up to 75 and 80 years old.”

Markou went on to explain how, as he has been an athlete since his youth and due to the steady results of ongoing medical diagnoses, his doctor George Kyriakides felt it was fine to recommend his entrance to the race.

Following a kidney transplant, most people experience side effects due primarily to the cortisone treatments which accompany the procedure. These side effects, said Markou, could be offset by regular exercise.

“I have taken part in other athletic contests also before [the latest kidney transplant]. In the contest which will take place in Athens I will be the only transplantee taking part, together with healthy athletes, and so you can understand how important it is for me that I am simply taking part.”

It is worth noting that Marios lost his sister, Anna, to kidney failure when she was 33 and that his mother has also had a kidney transplant. “The message I’d like to send to transplantees and individuals with kidney ailments generally is: Always be strong, don’t quit. Get back to a physical way of life as rapidly as you can.”