Heart Transplant Recipient Martyn Jackson Wins World Cup With England

Less than two years after heart transplant surgery, the former Manchester United academy player scored in England's 5-1 Transplant Football World Cup final win over Spain.

Martyn Jackson was playing ninth-tier English football for Ramsbottom United in October 2024 when he fell ill two days after a match against Cheadle Town. He was diagnosed with myocarditis, a heart inflammation usually triggered by infection, and his condition deteriorated to the point that doctors fitted a mechanical pump to keep his heart working.

He was placed on the UK's super urgent transplant waiting list and received a donor heart on November 28, 2024, with surgery performed at Wythenshawe Hospital in Greater Manchester. Jackson had come through Manchester United's academy as a youngster and also had spells at Blackburn Rovers, Preston North End and Burnley before a long career in non-league football.

His wife Lucy learned of the England transplant team through social media, and Jackson joined the squad in January 2026. In September, he scored in England's 5-1 victory over Spain in the Transplant Football World Cup final in Frankfurt, a tournament in which every player has received a donor organ. England beat six teams and scored 36 goals across the competition.

The transplant version of the game is seven-a-side with 20-minute halves and limited contact. Jackson, whose heart transplant requires closer workload management than teammates with other organ transplants, typically plays in short spells of about 10 minutes.

Jackson said he assumed his playing days were over after surgery and that he remains grateful to his donor and the donor's family. Dr Paul Callan, a consultant cardiologist at Wythenshawe Hospital, described his recovery to World Cup level within two years as remarkable, amid NHS figures showing 8,700 people currently waiting for donor organs.