COVINA : Transplant Patients to Join Ski Competition

A 36-year-old Covina woman will be among 50 participants in the first U.S. Winter Transplant Games for recipients of lifesaving organ transplants.

The event will be held in Aspen, Colo., from Feb. 3-7.

Julie Ann Shambra, who received a kidney and pancreas transplant in October, 1993, will participate in the Olympic-style skiing competition organized by the National Kidney Foundation. Shambra had suffered from diabetes, which destroyed her kidneys. The new pancreas eliminated the diabetes.

The event is open to patients who received heart, lung, liver, kidney, pancreas and bone marrow transplants.