09/01/08

Topical Talk 4

George Best
(and the missing organisations)

When I was but a boy and in love with football and all things 'sixties' George Best was a God.  He was a fabulous footballer who puts today's players to shame.   He could kick a ball with either foot without falling over, he was a good header of a football, he could and would put in his fair share of tackles and he could dribble with the ball as if by magic.

He was the scorer of some wondrous goals that came straight out of 'Roy of the Rovers' and if any were repeated this coming season in the Premiership, I would suspect foul play or special effects by the TV companies.

George was famously dubbed 'The Fifth Beatle' and he became the first celebrity footballer and for a time was without a doubt the best footballer in Europe and easily the second best footballer in the world behind Edson Arantes do Nascimento - Pele to you.

Some say George Best gave up the game too early, he himself says not, but he was constantly in the limelight and subject to all sorts of hangers on and as a result could not do anything that you or I would consider normal or private.   The pressures he was under, and in those days there were no football agents and other such celebrity accoutrements to help him, as he ploughed his way through the fame and the drink were way beyond the ken of all of us.

He famously had a liver transplant last year as he was weeks away from a certain premature death.   By all accounts and looking at the photographs he appeared to be doing well and was leading, for him, a normal life.   His gorgeous wife Alex apparently dotes on him and I have read that they were hoping to start a family together.

Until this weekend (12 July 2003) when George hit the pub and had a scuffle with a reporter/photographer  who had been tipped off that he was back on the drink.   George was briefly arrested, but soon released.  To where did he return?   Alex?   NO!         To the pub of course.

In one crazy weekend George has lost most, if not all of the sympathy any of us had for him and his addiction to the drink.   He has also done a massive disservice to the whole transplant process, in Transplant Awareness Week.

It is also only 5 days before I and the rest of the Great Britain & Northern Ireland squad head off to Nancy - France to compete in the World Transplant Games.

George has created massive media coverage - all of it bad, and I have yet to see or hear any pre - publicity about the World Transplant Games, locally or nationally.

The Transplant Sports Association of Great Britain (TSAGB) of which I am a paid up member and the World Transplant Games Federation (WTGF) have been noticeable by their absence.   I may of course have missed them or they may have tried in vain to get publicity.

At this date in the calendar and with all of the hype surrounding one errant ex football superstar I would have thought it would have been relatively easy to get free publicity to promote the games.   After all I thought the whole point of the transplant games whether they be British, European or World Games was to raise awareness and to promote the carrying of donor cards.

I may have missed all attempts by the above organisations to promote awareness/donor cards and transplants in general these past few days  and if I have, I apologise.  

If I have not - and I have looked hard - WHERE ARE YOU?

A Copy of my letter to the Daily Mail

18th July 2003

Sorry about the quality, but the exact text is printed below.

From: "Graham Marsh" To: Daily Mail. Subject: World Transplant Games Date: 15 July 2003 19:25

Dear Sirs,

I have been following the exploits of George Best and the subsequent publicity (all bad) that has been generated for the past few days and am very sad. I idolised George Best when he was in his pomp at Manchester United and I was pleased when he received his liver transplant last year.
No amount of fame or money can buy "The Gift of Life".

I received a heart transplant in July 1999 at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle and since then have participated in British, European and World Transplant Games. The whole purpose of The Games is to raise awareness and encourage people to carry donor cards, something which current events will certainly not achieve.

On Saturday (19th July) I shall be flying from Newcastle to Nancy - France, to take my place in the Great Britain & Northern Ireland team at The World Transplant Games and will be honoured to do so. I earned my place in the team by winning the British Golf Championships last year and I will also compete in the 100m and long Jump. I do not expect to win in the running or jumping events but the taking part is the message, to show what can be achieved by recipients of live saving transplants. There will be well over 1,000 competitors taking part and a lot will be accompanied by their husband/wife/parent who are as much a part of the 'family' as the recipients. There will also be donor families present, some of whom present the medals at the events. It is a fantastic experience for all of us involved and is also a very moving experience. I am so lucky to be able to be part of the event and at the same time promote awareness.

Possibly one day George Best may get involved as a competitor and be an advert for all that is good about transplants.

Regards,
Graham Marsh