Senior vice president,
Liver transplant heroes

Name: Alexander Hopkins Whiteaker, alexw@webspan.net

Born: July 11, 1958, Woodland, California, USA

Occupation: Senior attorney, Guardian Life Insurance Company of America

Home: Brooklyn, New York, USA

All-time T&F bests: old javelin: 250 something feet.

Masters achievements: Alex writes: "30-mile bike ride for MS 9/28/97. First road race 10/13/97. Have raced about 2x per month since in 5k - 5m road races. One 40 bike race. No longer a super clydesdale, at 190 lbs, and unlikely to win anything anyway as the clydes win at around 6-6.45/mile pace and supers at 6.30 -7.30. Weight training 3-4x week, run 4m 5x week, track work 1x week. Bike 30 m 2x week. Swim 2x week. No PRs as am still getting in shape. member of Achilles Track Club and Metropolitan Athletics Congress....

Goals:

1998 -- complete in USA Transplant Games. (He competed in the shot, 200 and 5000 road race.) NY Marathon
1999 -- compete NY masters indoor track meets, winter -- move up to 10k and 1/2 marathon for road racing (to make me put in miles for track).
-- enter at least 2 masters T&F meets for javelin and throw over 220.
-- compete in in 200, 400 at the World Transplant Games, Tilburg, Holland.

He adds after U.S. Transplant Games in Columbus, Ohio: "I will try to train harder next time and go into more distances, 400 and 800 and the 5,000 on the track. Other than that I am preparing to restart the arm for javelin and see how that goes."

Not-So-Trivial: On February 5, 1997, Alex was diagnosed with fulminant hepatitis -- acute liver failure due to unknown causes, presumed viral. On April 3, 1997, at NYU Medical Center, he received a new liver. "Weight upon discharge 158 lbs (am 6'3") with severe muscle and bone loss and attendant back pain etc."

CEO's note: A former college and professional rugby player in England, Alex is showing he knows how to bounce back from a rough tackle. He writes: "I am most interested in spreading the word about the lack of people willing to donate organs, which are pretty useless if we take them to the grave, but which can help others live long and productive lives. That is why I am going to the Transplant Games. I know I will not win any medals, after all, I am still recovering and quite slow . The point is to show others what transplant can and will do. I also do volunteer work with Transplant Recipients Int'l Organisation here in NY." The word is out, Alex, and you're The Man.

         See Nedstats for very detailed information on visits since September 16, 1998.

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