She received a new heart five years ago

Carina Bürgisser from Oberägeri won two gold medals at the World Transplant Winter Games, a competition between athletes who have had transplants.

The 16-year-old snowboarder won both the parallel slalom and the giant slalom in Canada, even beating competitors of more than 20-years-of age in a small field of the giant slalom. She mastered the course flawlessly, "There were two or three tricky spots," said Bürgisser, looking back. She also beat boys of the same age in the parallel slalom.

Carina Bürgisser with two gold medals. These are from 2018, because none have been sent from China this year due to the Corona virus.

"The most important thing was to participate, because I wouldn’t be here without my donor", she says, putting the medals into a real perspective. Bürgisser received a new heart in 2015 – and exactly on the fifth anniversary of her transplant, she won the Transplant Games in the giant slalom. "For me, it’s a miracle that I can even race a snowboard."

She used to ski, but didn't have enough strength to do it anymore after finishing chemotherapy. She started snowboarding almost four years ago – and, obviously, with great success.

There was a small disappointment, however: there were no medals for Bürgisser’s success in Canada. The manufacturer from China wasn’t able to send them because of the corona virus, she says. In the picture for this article, she’s therefore wearing two medals from 2018, when the Transplant Winter Games were held in Switzerland.