Mr Hodgkiss underwent a heart transplant at the age of 30 at the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle, while he was working as a dentist in the city.
He suffered a rapid illness due to cardiomyopathy – with only eight weeks between being admitted to hospital with shortness of breath to being discharged following a lifesaving heart transplant.
Unfortunately, hand tremors, that are a side effect of his lifelong immunosuppressant medication, prevented the return to a career in dentistry so Mr Hodgkiss returned to university to study physiotherapy.
Qualifying in 2003 from University of Salford, Mr Hodgkiss has enjoyed a 21-year career working for Bolton NHS Foundation Trust and now works as an practice education facilitator, supporting students on placement at the trust.
He said: “It’s always amazing to take part in transplant sports events, knowing that everyone there is only alive due to the selfless gift of a donated organ.
“It was especially poignant to win the gold medals on the anniversary of my transplant and to look back at my life over the last 28 years, knowing none of it would have happened without my transplant.”
