Alysun Deckert
Team Transplant, WA
"We had the liver group and the kidney group and the heart group. Now we're all one group," said Alysun Deckert of Team Transplant.
Alysun, a clinical nutrition manager at University of Washington Medical Center and competitive master's runner, started Team Transplant as a way for transplant recipients to find community post-surgery.
"I went into this thinking that with my diet and exercise background, I'm going to show the power of diet and exercise. People will be thinner and have better cholesterol levels, they'll be fast. But it's not so much what they do to train and what they eat, it's having a community that supports you in that effort that makes a difference. The community is what gets people back on Saturday mornings to exercise. They show up because they know they'll have a group there and people will support them."
Alysun has seen the miracles of running and community in her own life and found a logical transition into coaching and building community using her experience.
"I've gotten so much out of running, and it means a lot to share that with other people. People just need some support, some cheerleading, and some structure and suddenly it's not that daunting. One of the things that's really great about walking and running is that it really does lend itself to relationships. A 10 mile walk could take 2.5 hours, so you might spend 2.5 hours with somebody. We really try to build on that and make it fun for people."
Currently with over 200 Members, Team Transplants' moto is "Survive. Thrive. Together."