Massapequa resident Arthur Michaels is a perfect example of how organ, tissue and bone marrow transplants can save lives. After two liver transplants, he has gone on to participate in many marathons, including the Boston Marathon and the New York Marathon, and most recently to win a gold medal in racquetball at the 2002 U.S. Transplant Games.

The Games, presented by the National Kidney Foundation, and held this summer at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida, are Olympic-style sporting events for transplant recipients. This year's Transplant Games, which are held every two years, drew 1,500 athletes from 49 teams and five foreign countries. Additionally, 236 donor families and 210 living donors were in attendance.

With members hailing from New York and New Jersey, Michaels, age 68, was the oldest member of Team Liberty. To honor his seniority, he was selected to carry the Transplant Games flag from the arena at the closing ceremonies. Team Liberty will "guard" the flag until the venue for 2004 is decided upon. In all, members of Team Liberty captured 19 medals, including seven gold.

"One of the most moving moments at the Transplant Games was when the donor families marched into the stadium during the opening ceremonies, to be greeted by the recipients with thunderous applause and a standing ovation that lasted for 15 minutes," said Martin Woolf, communications manager of the New York Organ Donor Network, the organ procurement organization serving the New York metropolitan area. "The Games demonstrated once again that transplant recipients can only receive a second chance at life with the generous donation of organ, tissue and bone marrow donors."

Michaels' story is an inspiring one. In 1989, he was diagnosed with a rare liver disease that affects the bile ducts. Although he was born with the disorder, he knew nothing about it until his fifties when he landed in Mount Sinai Hospital, too sick to do what he loved best--run. He was told he would need a liver transplant. His name was put on the list and in June of 1990, he had what was to be the first of his two transplants.

Michaels' recovery was slow. Eventually, the surgeon who performed his transplant offered him a challenge. "He knew I had run several marathons in the past and he said 'You can run again.'" Michaels was skeptical. Then his surgeon introduced him to the cardiologist on the Transplant Team and they both began training together.

In 1993, Michaels and the cardiologist both ran the Boston Marathon and Michaels beat him by about an hour. The cardiologist was 20 years younger. A lively competition sprung up between the men, and several more marathons ensued. In 1995, Michaels' body went into rejection, but he waited for his friend, the cardiologist, at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

In 1996, they both ran the New York Marathon in November. That December, Michaels landed back in the hospital. The disease had come back. In December of 1996 he received his second transplant.

Since then, Michaels has remained active, although he admits his stamina is not what it used to be. In between running and playing racquetball, Michaels speaks at high schools in Nassau and Suffolk Counties about the importance of organ donation. So far, he estimates he has reached over 5,000 kids with his message. "Seventeen people a day die waiting for a transplant," he said. "We have to get the word out that transplants save lives."

To learn more about organ, tissue and bone marrow donation, New Yorkers can enroll in the New York State Organ and Tissue Donor Registry, a confidential database administered by the New York State Department of Health. For more information about donation and the New York State Donor Registry call 1-800-Gift-4-NY.