Heart Transplant Athlete Prepares For Transplant Games As Donor Alliance Flags 1,300 In Colorado Awaiting Organs

Michael Twitchell Trains For 20K Cycling Race After heart transplant

USA: Michael Twitchell, a former nurse turned heart transplant recipient in Colorado, is training for the 20-kilometer cycle road race at the upcoming American Transplant Games. Competing in Division One, a class for solid-organ transplant recipients, Twitchell logs dozens of miles on his bike each day as he prepares for a timed race months away.

Twitchell’s road to transplantation began with idiopathic restrictive cardiomyopathy, a condition that scarred and stiffened his ventricles so his heart could no longer stretch to accept blood. He was placed on the transplant list in 2019 and received a new heart in 2021. The operation and follow-up rehabilitation have become central to his daily life and athletic goals.

He maintains an ongoing relationship with his donor family, sending photos and emails to show how their loved one’s gift continues to matter. That connection, he says, makes his training and participation in the Games a living testament to the power of transplantation and the human stories behind each donor and recipient.

In Colorado, roughly 1,300 people remain on the waiting list for life-saving organ transplants, with hundreds of thousands more awaiting tissue transplants. Organizations such as Donor Alliance use personal stories like Twitchell’s to highlight that one donor can save up to eight lives through organ donation and heal as many as 75 through tissue donation.

Video originally published on 2026-04-09 18:21:53