In the United Kingdom earlier this week, an athlete who received medals in last month’s British Transplant Games swam the English Channel for the second time.

Determined Steve Deakin, aged 46 swam, the distance in 14 hours 15 minutes to raise awareness about the opportunities available to people who have undergone transplant operations.

The dad-of-three children and two step-children, of Ealing Road, Great Sankey, battled with difficult weather conditions during the swim on August 30.

Three of the six swimmers who took part – all of whom have had transplants – suffered from sea sickness in the choppy weather.

The British citizen, who has undergone two kidney transplants, said: “We wanted to show that there’s life after the transplant. We raised awareness through local papers.�

Steve is currently waiting to find out if he has qualified for next August’s World Transplant Games in Australia.

Last month he came away from Sheffield’s Transplant Games with five medals for swimming, canoeing and squash.