Team Illinois TGA Manager
Brian Stiner
Brian Stiner stepped in at the last-minute in 2022 as Team Illinois manager and did an outstanding job. In 2024 he will once again lead the team.
He previously served Transplant Life Illinois as vice president and team sports captain during the 2018 Games and as co-manager in 2020 for the Reimagined Games. A kidney recipient, Brian has competed in multiple sports in eight Transplant Games.
Diagnosed with IgA nephropathy as a young adult, Stiner soon needed a kidney. His sister became his hero donor on June 22, 2001, at the University of Chicago Hospital. His transplant has enabled him to continue traveling with his job as an engineer, share in adventures with his family, and compete in various Games around the country.
Brian, a resident of Batavia, looks forward to once again playing team volleyball and playing for the Spare Parts basketball team in the 2024 Games.
You can reach Brian at bnstiner@gmail.com.
Monica Fox
Monica Fox, a kidney recipient and outreach specialist at NKFI, has served TLI for the past two years as a member-at-large. She has attended two Transplant Games and loved them so much that she wants to share her experiences with others as co-team manager.
Two days before Thanksgiving in November 2016, Monica received her gift of life at UIC hospital. “I received a directed donation from a friend’s family, and it was a perfect match,” she says. “My recovery was amazingly easy, my labs have been stable, and my advocacy continues with renewed and reinvigorated purpose.”
The longer Monica spent on the waiting list for a kidney transplant, the more she learned about organ donation. “I learned that people die every day waiting for a transplant,” she says. “I didn’t want to be one of them.” So, she became an active advocate for organ donation and the “face of waiting” for many donation campaigns.
Monica first participated in the 2018 Transplant Games in Salt Lake City, where she and her dance partner, Vince Shavers, won the bronze medal in ballroom dancing. In 2022 Monica competed again at the TGA in San Diego with her daughter, Olivia, and grandson, Jacoby, cheering her on.