Showcase: Ross Owens

Ross Owens participated in the World Transplant Games in 2017 (Spain) and has been hooked ever since. He’s been tirelessly advocating for organ donation from his home in Hillsboro and training extensively for the 2020 Transplant Games in New Jersey. Of course with Covid, his workouts have changed a little.

“I got back to the gym just last week," he said. "

I am not attempting the speeds I was going before the shut down, but going pretty fast and going a full hour each time. We'll see how long it takes to get back to sped and endurance levels."

Ross served in the U.S. Army from 1970 to 1974, then became a special educator with the Illinois Department of Corrections. He received a liver transplant March 2011 at St. Louis University Hospital.

In 2018 Ross won a medal in race walking, and for those of us who don't know what that is, Ross has put together a video. “My wife Marie and I are very excited to continue competing, and showing the world there is life after an organ transplant,” he says. “Everyone should sign up for organ donation. It saved my life and may help save the life of someone else you know.”