On May 12 in Wisla, individuals and institutions that have made special contributions to transplantation medicine, whether in medical practice, science or promotion, will be honored. During the Gala, traditionally held the day before the Run for New Life, the awardees in six categories will appear on stage: Personality of Polish Transplantation, Active for Transplantation, Media about Transplantation, Active after Transplantation and Year in Polish Transplantation. Special awards of the Run for New Life will also be presented. For the seventh time, the awards have been prepared by one of Poland's most prominent graphic artists Andrzej Pągowski. The "Second Life" awards in past years went to the late Prof. Marian Zembala - a cardiac surgeon, one of the pioneers of Polish transplantation and longtime director of the Silesian Center for Heart Diseases in Zabrze, Prof. Adam Maciejewski - one of the world's most prominent reconstructive and microvascular surgeons, who performed Poland's first face transplant operation, and Prof. Wieslaw Jedrzejczak, who was the first in Poland to perform successful bone marrow transplants. Awards also went to Prof. Roman Danielewicz - former President of the Polish Transplantation Society, one of the most prominent Polish transplantologists, and Prof. Piotr Kaliciński, a pediatric transplantologist affiliated since 1980 with the "Institute - Pomnik Centrum Zdrowia Dziecka" in Warsaw. In 1990, Prof. Piotr Kalicinski performed the first successful liver transplant in Poland. In 2021, 200 hearts were transplanted in Poland - a year later, all Polish heart transplant centers received a combined award for this achievement. The Gala of Polish Transplantology "Second Life" will traditionally be held at the Golebiewski Hotel. For us, the Run for New Life and, since 2015, the Gala of Polish Transplantology are exceptional projects. We are strongly associated with them. That's why our doors are always open to all those who care about the welfare of Polish transplantology - participants and guests of the Run for New Life," says Jarosław Brożyna - director of the Golebiewski Hotel in Wisła.
The 22nd Run for New Life will be attended by a representation of transplant patients from Slovenia "strengthened" by representatives of Slovenija Transplant. This is part of the "We have more than one life in us" project, co-financed by the European Union, which is intended to develop common promotional guidelines for transplantation and organ donation and train a cadre of ambassadors - educators in both countries made up of transplant patients.
