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Inspirational GLL Coach Heads for Transplant Games
13 May 2026
Athletics coach Hafeez Ahmad has worked in ‘Better’s’ leisure centres in Manchester for more than twenty years. Also a trained sports therapist and physiotherapist, part of his role involves supporting disabled children and adults and those with cancer.
Although you might imagine that he has pursued this career because of his physical prowess, the reverse is true - he became interested in sports and fitness as a way to manage his own health struggles.
As a child, Hafeez, now aged 44, had meningitis which weakened the left side of his body and impaired his speech. Later, as a young adult, he experienced kidney failure and relied on dialysis and though he was fortunate to eventually receive a kidney transplant, he still struggles with poor health at times.
“When my kidneys failed, my wife left me,” he recalls. “After the operation, my weight went up to nineteen-and-a-half stone, partly from sitting around all day but also because of the medication. That’s when I became interested in sport – my father and grandfather encouraged me to get fit and I am now a healthy weight. But life’s not always easy and I suffer a lot. For example, I was in hospital for three weeks over Christmas and the medication can give you headaches and cramps. But I take care to eat healthily and look after my kidney – no salt, fizzy drinks or tomatoes – and I drink a lot of water. I also have a new partner, Tayyaba, who is very supportive.”
In addition to working as a coach, Hafeez, who has lived in Levenshulme all his life, has pushed himself even further and regularly competes in ‘transplant games’ – national and international sporting events for people who have undergone a transplant. The games celebrate the participants’ ‘second chance’ at life and promote awareness of organ donation.
Hafeez competes in long jump and darts and his determination led him to win a silver medal in long jump at the British Transplant Games and bronze at the European Transplant Games last year. This year, he is heading for the European Transplant Games in The Netherlands in June. He credits his coach, Keith Hunter, with supporting his goals.
"I do everything I can to promote the Games, " he says. "I want to show people how a donor can transform someone's life."
Leisure centres in Manchester are run by charitable social enterprise GLL under the ‘Better’ brand in partnership with the local authority.
Leila Bendrimia, GLL’s Community Sports Manager in the region, said: “We’re immensely proud of Hafeez and his determination to overcome his difficulties and help other people. We wish him all the best in the Transplant Games this summer.”
Hafeez has set up a Go Fund Me page and would welcome any donations.
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