Local golf professional wins gold at ‘2024 Transplant Games’

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ( WMBB ) — Legacy Golf LPGA Head Golf Professional, Liz Kasey won gold at the ‘2024 Transplant Games of America’ in Birmingham, Alabama.

Kasey also works at Gulf Coast State College as the web manager and photographer for the athletic department.

Kasey represented team Florida in the games. This was her first in-person appearance at the games.

Kasey won gold after not playing golf for three years and only a few weeks of practice.

“It’s been way too many years since that competition that I played in,” Kasey said. “It was fun to get back and get that feeling again.”

Kasey golfed in college at Rend Lake College and Arkansas Tech University. But during that, she was battling more than being a student-athlete.

“As a college athlete, You don’t think about being fatigued or being thirsty or having to use the bathroom a lot,” Kasey said. “And not thinking about possibly having diabetes. But unfortunately, I ended up having diabetes. Once I came home, I went through some testing and found out that I had done a lot of damage to my kidneys.”

Kasey needed a kidney transplant.

“I had two people that helped save my life,” Kasey said. “Marcia Pell, who’s here locally, she’s a friend of mine, and she went through the donor exchange through Mayo Clinic.”

Pell went through the donor exchange because she was not a match with Kasey. Her gift allowed Kasey to match with someone else.

In February 2018, a police officer in Phoenix, Arizona named Lisa donated her kidney to Kasey.

“She’s what’s called an altruistic donor, which means she just gave to give to anyone,” Kasey said. “I was fortunate enough to receive her gift of life.”

A year after the procedure, the two connected and had a special bond.

“It’s so amazing to see,” Kasey said. “It was just like sitting down with family. We didn’t have any awkward times or anything. And it ends up that we’re both myself and my donor have very similar personalities.”

The six-day event of the transplant games started with an opening ceremony. There were participants from all 50 states and even some from other countries.

“It was an amazing experience to be able to walk into an arena with your team and other teams from all over the country,” Kasey said.

There were more than 20 different types of competitions.

Kasey golfed with three men, all from different states. They matched participants based on their experience with the game.

“It was a unique feeling because I’ve never been in a setting where there’s been that many people that have had either the same transplant or a different transplant,” Kasey said. “It gave hope that even though you’ve had a transplant, it’s not the end. It’s just the beginning.”

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