- Published
When Martyn Jackson walked off the pitch after Ramsbottom United's 2-1 win over Cheadle Town in October 2024, it never crossed his mind that one day he could be a World Cup winner.
uncertain
he → publish → mind
In fact, in the days after that match, his goal was just staying alive.
asserted
goal → stay → match
Just a couple of days after the final whistle, Jackson started to feel unwell during the night.
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Jackson → start → night
He went into hospital and was diagnosed with myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart usually caused by an infection.
asserted
He → go → infection
Within weeks, he was placed on the super urgent waiting list for a transplant.
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he → place → transplant
His life was saved when a donor heart became available, and on 28 November 2024, he had successful surgery at Wythenshawe Hospital in Greater Manchester.
asserted
he → save → Manchester
Fast forward to September 2026, and Jackson scored for England in their 5-1 win over Spain in the final of the Transplant Football World Cup.
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Jackson → score → Cup
"Obviously, when you've had a transplant, you don't think you're ever going to play again.
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you → have → transplant
That's what I thought anyway," Jackson tells BBC Sport.
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Jackson → think → Sport
"I'll be forever grateful to my donor and the family for what they've given me.
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they → give → me
They've given me the gift of life and the opportunity to live my life to the fullest.
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They → give → fullest
Football at the Transplant World Cup is not quite the same as the game played at the Fifa World Cup.
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Football → play → Cup
Instead, it reflects how delicate each player's body is having been through life-altering surgery.
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body → reflect → surgery
Matches are seven-a-side and played over 20-minute halves.
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Matches → play → halves
Contact is "not as aggressive as I was used to", Jackson says.
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Jackson → use → ?
Having played 11-a-side football in the ninth tier of English football before his surgery, he became a game-changing new addition to the national transplant team when he joined up with the squad in January 2026.
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he → play → January
Jackson spent his youth career in the academy at Manchester United, before spells at Blackburn Rovers, Preston North End and Burnley.
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Jackson → spend → Burnley
He eventually stopped pursuing a career as a professional and spent 13 years with clubs across the non-league pyramid.
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He → stop → pyramid
During his recovery, wife Lucy heard about the opportunity to join an England Transplant FC team on social media.
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Lucy → hear → media
Daley Cross, manager of the England team, said of Lucy's role: "She was just trying to do her best for him and trying to find a way to motivate him.
"
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She → say → him
His wife did drop in the conversation that he used to play at Manchester United as a schoolboy.
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he → drop → schoolboy
So that got our ears twitched instantly.
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ears → get → ?
"You could tell from him being on the pitch, even though he was so fresh into his journey, that he knew the football game and he would be such an incredible asset to us.
uncertain
he → tell → us
So to have us exist to help and inspire people means that we are getting some incredible footballers.
"
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we → exist → footballers
And that really is the power of it: to that transplant community or to the world, showing people that when you've had organ failure, your life isn't over.
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life → show → failure
There is a chance for you, and you can go and resume and live your life."
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you → be → life
As the recipient of a donor heart, Jackson has to manage his exercise workload more carefully than his team-mates, many of whom have had kidney transplants, the most common transplant in the UK.
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many → have → UK
His role in the side tends to involve 10-minute bursts, rather than playing for the duration of matches.
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role → tend → matches
Bayern Munich's Alphonso Davies was diagnosed with a mild form of myocarditis in 2022.
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Davies → diagnose → 2022
He was sidelined for nearly five months, undergoing specialist cardiac monitoring, before returning to play.
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He → sideline → monitoring
Jackson started to feel ill two days after Ramsbottom side's win over Cheadle, and his case became so severe that doctors had to fit his heart with a mechanical pump to keep him alive.
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doctors → start → him
"Of course it was extremely scary," he says, "but at that stage, when you are critically ill, there's not really much you can do about it.
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you → say → it
You have to accept it."
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You → have → it
The super urgent waiting list he was placed on is the highest priority of the three tiers of patients waiting for a new heart.
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he → place → heart
Dr Paul Callan, a consultant cardiologist at Wythenshawe Hospital's Heart and Lung Centre, worked with Jackson during his diagnosis and recovery.
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Callan → work → diagnosis
"Initially, we used to quote an average wait of seven days on the urgent transplant list," he says.
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he → use → list
Maybe 10% of patients who are put on the list get too poorly and have to be taken off the list.
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who → put → list
"
That increased waiting time is the result of a reduction in the numbers of organ donors in the UK, with a 9% drop recorded in 2026 compared to the same period last year.
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time → increase → period
There are 8,700 people currently waiting for a donor organ, a figure that NHS Blood and Transplant say is an all-time high.
asserted
Blood → be → organ
This Organ Donation Week,, external which runs from 21-28 September, the NHS has launched an urgent response plan to address the decline.
Jackson has yet to meet the family of the donor from which he received his new heart.
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he → run → heart
…and 6 more, not listed.
The Aporia
