I had my liver transplant in October 2021 but my journey actually started way back in my teens when I was diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis. With medication—mainly steroids and immunosuppressants—I was able to keep things under control and live a fairly normal life throughout my teens and twenties.

Things changed in my thirties. My condition developed into primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), which slowly scarred my liver until a transplant was the only option left. It was a scary time. I had a young family depending on me, and so many questions kept going around in my head: Will I be okay? Will my wife and little girl be okay if something goes wrong? To make things harder, this was all happening during COVID, and being vulnerable meant I couldn’t even leave the house.

Then, on 10th October 2021, the call came. They had a liver for me.

I remember feeling terrified but trying to put on a brave face for my family. They weren’t allowed to stay with me in hospital, and after a long 18-hour wait, I was finally taken into theatre. Thankfully, the surgery went well and I could finally begin recovery.

One of my biggest dreams was to play football again. After being unwell for so long, I wasn’t sure what my body could handle. About four months after the transplant, my colleagues at my new job encouraged me to join a 5-a-side game. I strapped my knees up (years of steroids had left them pretty weak) and gave it a go. To my surprise, I felt amazing. That feeling of kicking a ball again, when I’d thought I might never play, was unbelievable. Each game got better—my body got stronger, my recovery faster, and before long, I didn’t even need knee support anymore.

What made it even more special was showing my family the progress I was making. After everything they’d done to support me, being able to prove I was getting stronger meant the world.

At first, I didn’t know anything about transplant sport. It was actually my nephew’s wife—who worked on the ICU I was on—who mentioned it to me. I did some digging and found out there was a football tournament in Solihull in 2023. I decided to give it a go, not knowing what to expect. It turned out to be an incredible day—I met so many amazing people who’d been through similar journeys.

From there, things snowballed. I joined the Nottingham team, later connected with Birmingham players, and together we started regular training sessions. That grew into the Birmingham Transplant Football Club, and in 2024 we entered the British Transplant Games and won gold!

Then came one of the biggest honours of my life—being asked to represent England. Pulling on that shirt meant everything. In April 2025, I was part of the inaugural European Championship, where we went on to win.

Now, Birmingham Transplant Football Club is a proper team with a big identity in the transplant football community. In 2025, we defended our British Transplant Games title, which was a huge achievement for us.

But honestly, the trophies aren’t the main thing. The real victory is what we’ve built together—a community of people from all sorts of backgrounds, each with their own transplant story, all coming together to play the sport we love and to honour our donors. Every time we step onto the pitch, that’s who we represent. For me, that will always be the greatest achievement.