A KIDNEY transplant patient from Spreyton has been selected to represent Britain in the World Transplant Games in Bangkok this August. Wendy Sincock won seven medals at the British Transplant Games last year, but ten days later had to undergo a total hip replacement. She has now fought her way back to total fitness and is looking forward to competing again. 'It's such an honour to be going,' she said. 'I'll be competing in the swimming heats, doing backstroke and front crawl. There'll be 55 different countries there, and Britain is sending a team of 150 athletes, including 25 children. 'It'll be just like a mini Olympics. ' Wendy will be joined in Bangkok by two other transplant athletes from the South West — Alison Cliffe from Minehead and Mike Brewer from Ipplepen. All three recently underwent kidney transplants at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital. March 8 is World Kidney Day — and Wendy is calling on people in West Devon to consider registering themselves as organ donors. 'We all take our kidneys for granted,' she said. 'But when you go onto dialysis you realise how difficult it is to live without them. 'I was on dialysis for two years and I can't explain how poorly I felt — my body just started shutting down. 'To get a new kidney after that is just marvellous. It really is a gift of life.' Around 90% of kidney transplants in the UK are now successful — and transplanting a kidney usually costs the NHS less than half the cost of keeping a patient on dialysis. Despite this, nearly 18,000 British people are on dialysis, and kidney failure patients in this country typically have to wait more than twice as long for a new organ as patients waiting for heart, lung or liver transplants. To register as an organ donor, speak to your local doctor's surgery, call 0845 6060400, or visit http://www.uktransplant.org.uk">www.uktransplant.org.uk