Lawrence resident Mike Strauss laces up before a pickup game of basketball July 21 at Kansas University’s Robinson Gymnasium.

Lawrence resident Mike Strauss had a liver transplant in 2001. He will be participating, for the fourth time, in the 2010 Transplant Games this weekend in Madison, Wis.

Not many people can say they have had a life-changing experience, a live-or-die moment, a miracle.

But Merle Zuel can.

Zuel, now 48, was diagnosed with heart failure in 1996. After several years of treatment and medications, he finally got what he needed in February 2007: a new heart.

Others are not as fortunate as Zuel, who lives in Bonner Springs. In fact, more than 100,000 men, women and children are waiting for life-saving organ transplants, and 18 of them die every day, according to the National Kidney Foundation.

The foundation has found ways to showcase the success stories from organ transplants while advocating their importance.

Every two years, the foundation holds the Transplant Games, an Olympic-style competition with 12 events. This year’s host city is Madison, Wis.

Twenty-four of the nearly 1,500 athletes will be competing as part of Team MO-KAN, which represents western Missouri and all of Kansas. Zuel will join the rest of his team this weekend to compete in the four-day event. For Zuel, competing in shot put and bowling will be a dream come true.

“I wasn’t able to compete in organized sports in school, and this will be my first time in any sort of organized competition, so it will be a victory for me,” Zuel said.

Other members of the team look forward to the chance to reunite with their donor families. Mike Strauss, Lawrence, who received a liver transplant in 2001, has been able to remain close with his donor family, a blessing most recipients do not get. Strauss said he could not describe the gratitude he felt for his donor and her family. It’s something he will be thankful for all his life.

“She saved four lives,” Strauss said. “She donated liver, lungs and kidneys, and so she saved four people’s lives. She’s a hero; people that donate organs, to me, are heroes.”

Strauss, who has been to the games four consecutive times, said it is the most rewarding activity he does. This year, he’s competing in basketball, golf and table tennis. He said it is an incredible feeling to learn about other people, build relationships and show others what organ donation means for recipients and families.

Ali Jacobsen, a sophomore at Johnson County Community College, has also attended the games four straight times. The Lawrence woman has not yet met the donor family who made her liver transplant possible, but she said hearing the stories of others is touching enough. As she has gotten older, she has learned that the games are much more than a competition.

“It’s about being healthy and being thankful that we can participate and be active still, because a lot of people have restrictions,” Jacobsen said.

Jacobsen will compete in volleyball, table tennis and shot put. She and the rest of the team leave Friday to join more than 1,500 other athletes and to compete for the chance to take home gold. For more on the games, visit kidney.org.