arena aggression proved as stiff as the fight for life he faced when his kidneys shut down in the mid-1990s.

"I never had any problems. Just one day I started feeling tired and sluggish," he said.

In 1994, diagnosed with kidney failure, he went on dialysis. After his long days of work as a financial manager for PNC Bank, Shaw underwent treatments at DCI in Banksville.

When his father, Nick, retired in 1995 and put a dialysis machine in his home, Mark returned to the home in which he grew up and continued treatments there.

And, Shaw's schedule was crowded. Between work and basketball, he enjoyed other activities such as softball, tennis, running and swimming. He also relished the evenings he spent sharing a pizza or going for a walk with his long-time girlfriend, Cindy Castilow.

It was after one such stroll, an alert arrived indicating a kidney had become available for Shaw.

Recalling a previous false alarm, on this particular occasion Shaw neglected to secure the pager to his hip. "When you are on-call for an organ, they give you one," he said. "Once it went off and it was the wrong number. Your heart sinks a little when you learn that it's not the transplant center.

"When we realized that time we didn't take it (pager), we walked back to get it," they said. "And no less than 30 seconds into our apartment the pager went off.

"How soon can you be here?," the voice on the other end asked.

Ten minutes came the reply.

"Drive safely," the voice prompted.

Once the pair reached the UPMC emergency room at 7 p.m., they laughed because the surgery would be delayed. "We had to wait until Osso's pizza digested," said Castilow.

At midnight, Shaw underwent surgery and, on May 4, 1997, he was a new man.

"My life became different," he said.

Shaw did so well with his match--the donor was a woman from Wisconsin involved in a fatal automobile accident--that two days after surgery he was released from the hospital.

"You don't realize how grateful you are to get a second chance, particularly with life, but it's only because of someone else's loss and through somebody else's generosity that I got this opportunity."

Once back into condition, Shaw had the opportunity to once again compete. Every two years, the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) hosts Olympic-styled Games for transplant patients. Shaw has competed in six NKF Transplant Games, including last week's competition held in his hometown, Pittsburgh.

"My first games were in 1998 and held in Columbus on the campus of Ohio State," said the sports enthusiast. "2002 and 2000 were held in Orlando and that was nice because they have that Wide World of Sports complex but many of the participants went to the theme parks because they away free passes. So there wasn't as much camaraderie among the athletes. But holding them here in Pittsburgh was special."

In regard to medal haul, they certainly proved significant for Shaw.

He won a gold and silver medal as a member of two relay teams in swimming. He scored a bronze medal in racewalking with an 11:15 time. He also took the bronze in mixed doubles playing with his tennis partner Jane Barrett from the North Hills.

Last but not least, Shaw grabbed the gold in basketball. He captained Team Pittsburgh, which consisted of Lee Adams, George McClure, Stan Holbrook, Brad Davern and Shane Camahan to a first-place finish in the Men's Open Division.

On winning that gold medal Shaw said, "it was great because past years were disappointing, having been eliminated before the medal round.

"Obviously," he added, "it's more gratifying because (basketball) is my favorite sport."

Today, however, one of Shaw's favorite pasttimes is actively campaigning for organ donor awareness. Recently, he traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with Congressman Tim Murphy and work with the NKF on a bill that sits on President George Bush's desk awaiting his signature.

Of course, the NFK Transplant Games also kept Shaw busy in more than just a competitive capacity.

"To be able to have a chance to get a second chance and be able to perform and do well is wonderful but it's not only about the competition.

"It's about promoting organ donation, getting people signed up to become donors and paying tribute to the donor families and recognizing them. They are the ones who make the sacrifice in their time of tremendous grief that enables people like me to live."