Worlds Largest Gathering of Transplant Recipients Held in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY — More than 500 people gathered at the Transplant Games of America closing ceremony Tuesday night to break the Guinness World Records title for the largest gathering of organ transplant recipients.

In all, 540 people gathered at the event held at the Salt Palace Convention Center to break the previous record of 438 people set May 12 by Baskent University in Turkey, according to One Legacy spokeswoman Tania Llavaneras in a statement. One Legacy is a nonprofit company that focuses on organ donations in California as a sponsor of the Donate Life’s Transplant Games of America.

Those who participated in the record-breaking event were recipients of everything from heart to kidney or any other organ donation.

The Transplant Games ran from Aug. 2 through Tuesday with those who received organ donations, living donors and others impacted by organ donations competing in multiple sporting events. Llavaneras said it was also an event to allow those who received organ donations a place to connect and celebrate.

The event’s website notes the event is meant to raise awareness for “organ, cornea, bone marrow and tissue donation through the lives of the athlete-recipients and the lasting legacy of their donors.”