The footballer who had a heart transplant - then became a World Cup winner

Martyn Jackson, a non-league footballer who spent 13 years playing across England's lower divisions after leaving academy football at Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Preston North End and Burnley, was diagnosed with myocarditis in October 2024 and received a donor heart transplant at Wythenshawe Hospital on 28 November 2024. His wife Lucy found England's transplant football team on social media, and Jackson joined the squad in January 2026. In September 2026 he scored for England as they beat Spain 5-1 in the final of the Transplant Football World Cup, a seven-a-side competition for organ transplant recipients.