Southern Albertans return from World Transplant Games in Germany

Times Photo Submitted by Jan Clemis. WORLD TRANSPLANT GAMES: Organ donors and recipients from around the world gathered in a spirit of camaraderie in Dresden, Germany.

By Cal Braid
Taber Times
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Taber’s Jan Clemis returned home from the World Transplant Games and told the story of how organ donors and recipients from around the world gathered in a spirit of camaraderie in Dresden, Germany.

  From August 17-24, a Canadian athlete contingent of 51 participants descended on Dresden to celebrate good health and life through friendly competition. The entire Canadian delegation numbered 86, which included several supporters and family members .

  Clemis said the athletes were eligible to participate in one of three different categories: as an organ transplant recipient, a living donor, or an ‘angel donor’ for deceased family members who donated an organ upon passing.

  Fifty one countries from around the globe sent 2,220 athletes who participated in 17 different sports. When the Games concluded, Clemis said that Team Canada shone in sixth place. She competed in five swimming events and three relays.

  “Our participants were proud to represent our nation, and ready to compete after months of training and preparation,” she said. “Of course, as we are all just so grateful to be afforded the opportunity for a second chance at life through organ donation, the atmosphere at the Games exudes camaraderie and goodwill, alongside the desire to all compete at our best for our respective countries.”

   “We were all winners, because we were there!” she said, emphasizing the victory that organ donor recipients share in.

  Clemis is intent on sharing her experience and raising awareness about the positive outcomes that can occur after transplantation. She encourages families to have the sometimes eerie ‘kitchen table talk’ to discuss their wishes about organ and tissue donation.

  She is Taber’s most vocal advocate for Green Shirt Day, an annual event that was born out of the 2018 Humboldt Broncos bus collision that killed 16 team passengers. Logan Boulet, a Lethbridge native and Broncos defenceman was one of those, succumbing to his injuries the day after the crash. Sometime before the accident, Logan told his father that he was registering as an organ donor. After learning that Logan would not recover from crash injuries, his parents, Bernadine and Toby Boulet, donated his organs, giving the gift of life to six waiting recipients. Green Shirt Day is now an annual event that honours Logan’s legacy and promotes organ donation.

  Clemis has been personally impacted by organ donation. “Our family is grateful for the Gift of Life my late husband Kelly and I were both given and have honoured each extra day,” she said prior to 2025’s Green Shirt Day in Taber.

 “I’m trying to pay it forward with raising awareness and remain committed to the transplant community. My heart is full, for sure. Without my son, Blair, having the generosity to donate a kidney to me, I would still be hopefully managing on dialysis.”

  She said giving and receiving from a living donor isn’t simple, but can be planned. For most recipients, organs are gifted upon someone’s passing. Clemis knows 15 families in the Taber area who have been personally touched by organ donation, and is certain there are several she hasn’t yet met.

  From Taber to Dresden and back, Clemis carries the message with her in the same way she carries her son’s kidney – it’s a part of her.