Clemis shares the adventure of World Transplant Games and thanks council

Times Photo Submitted by Town of Taber. HONOURARY: Jan Clemis (in red by Mayor Andrew Prokop) was honoured by town council on Nov. 24 after sharing her experiences at the World Transplant Games in Dresden, Germany last summer.

By Cal Braid
Taber Times
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Taber’s Jan Clemis was honoured by town council on Nov. 24 after sharing her experiences at the World Transplant Games in Dresden, Germany last summer.

From Aug. 17-24, fifty one countries from around the globe sent about 2,500 participants to take part in 17 different sporting events. When the Games concluded, Clemis said that Team Canada held strong in sixth place, and she personally competed in five swimming events and three relays.

 Clad in a sporty red and white jersey, Clemis said to council, “Without a pool to help make me healthy after my kidney transplant, I wouldn’t be this beacon of hope for other transplant recipients.”

 “I have a lot of gratitude to the Town of Taber for the support that they’ve always given me for our Green Shirt Day events and the wonderful staff at the swimming pool. They’ve been amazing. It’s a great way for us as townspeople to keep healthy (and) it’s a lifelong, wonderful sport.”

 The Games occur in the summers of odd-numbered years. In 2023, she attended the Games in Australia with her daughters; in 2025 she participated in Germany; and in 2027 the Games will be held in Belgium. In even-numbered years, national transplant games are held in Canada.

 A Canadian-athlete contingent of 51 participants landed in Dresden to celebrate good health and life through friendly competition. The entire Canadian delegation numbered 86, which included supporters and family members.

 Astonishingly, Clemis said that the 2,500 participants in Dresden have accumulated a combined 16,312 extra years of life – almost 6 million days – thanks to their gift of life via transplants. She said during the introductions at the Games, the donors are the last to enter the stadium and always receive a standing ovation.

 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.

 Clemis is Taber’s brave and willing 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 is the recipient of an organ donation from her son, Blair, who gave one of his kidneys to his mother when she was on dialysis. She said giving and receiving from a living donor can be planned and achieved successfully. However, most recipients’ organs are gifted to them upon someone else’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.

 Once she wrapped up her short presentation to council, Mayor Prokop said, “Thank you so much, Jan. You’ve represented Taber, Alta and Canada very well. This is incredible – what you’ve done and what you continue to do.”