A DEBUT appearance at the British Transplant Games led to a clutch of top honours for Minehead care home owner Alison Cliffe. The 50-year-old came away from the five-day event at Bath University last week with three gold and two silver medals and the trophy for the best newcomer. And to add to the glory, she also won a place in the British team for the World Transplant Games in Bangkok in August 2007. "I had been training quite hard but I never expected to do as well as I did," said Alison. "I'm really pleased." Alison was a member of the five-strong Exeter team which returned home with 33 medals under its collective belt. A total of 572 adults and 450 children took part in the games and Alison picked up her gold medals in tennis singles, kayaking sprint and kayaking slalom. The silvers were for badminton doubles and discus. They followed her earlier success in April this year at the Transplant Sports Association of Great Britain's badminton tournament, when she won gold and silver medals. Alison, who runs a unit for adults with learning difficulties with her partner Lee Clarke, suffered from polycystic kidney disease. But years of ill health and 11 months of dialysis ended when a donor organ became available on Christmas Day 2002. The new kidney was not only the best Christmas present she could have wished for, it also gave her back her life. "I'd had to give up doing lots of things before I had the transplant, including badminton and tennis because I was just so unwell. "So it's absolutely brilliant to be able to play these sports again, and new ones as well. "The whole point of these games is to promote organ donation and to show how important it is for people to carry a card indicating their willingness to donate organs. "Having a transplant gave me the chance to have a life again." Photo: Steve Guscott.