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He underwent a kidney transplant six years ago with a donation coming from his mother, 64-year-old Kathryn Murphy. The team’s participation in the competition was made possible by a fundraising drive which included a £1,500 donation from pro-independence group YesCymru.
Managed by James’ father John — a former Swansea City Centre of Excellence coach — the team placed seventh in the tournament having played Ireland, Romania, France, USA, England and Australia.
Father of three James said: “The tournament was brilliant. The overall experience was just something else. It was even better than we’d imagined. It was a bit overwhelming at the start but it was a really good experience. It’s really hard to put into words.
“I got to meet people from the other side of the world who have practically been on the same journey as me.
“Although we were opponents on the pitch we were united by similar experiences. As it’s been said, football is a universal language, so in that sense there was no language barrier there. You had Chileans there, Spanish, Italians, French.
“I can’t speak a word of anything but English, but you could communicate through football. You’re pointing to where you’ve had your transplant and they’re doing the same.
“It was an emotional experience. I remember for the first 10 minutes after kick off I just wasn’t in the game because once I realised it had started I was really overwhelmed by it. It was almost like an out-of-body experience.”
He added: “All the fundraising, all the work and the training and everything had just come to this point and it had started and I got a bit overwhelmed at the start and a few other players said the same.
“The last day as captain I did a little presentation and we gave a few awards and I gave a captain’s speech and I was fighting back the tears during that because the team had made me so proud to be their captain and the support I had from them as brilliant as well.”
“We’re really grateful to the likes of YesCymru for helping with the fundraising and turning this dream of representing Wales on the world stage into a reality.”
James thought the early signs of his kidney failure were ‘part of getting older.’ He felt fatigued and lost a lof of weight but carried on. The Swansea man was urged by his family to go to the doctor where he went for blood tests and was told he was anaemic.
He was told to come back in the morning and when he did he was sent straight to a group of specialists in the hospital. He found out his kidneys were on 4% function after a series of tests.
“The doctors said they’d never seen anyone still walking around with these type of blood test results,” said James, who accepted his mother’s kidney 18 months later.
“There were a few setbacks along the way where she’d had infections and reached the right markers to be able to donate an organ. So we had a few worrying times and a few frustrating periods but we got there.
“It was never a doubt for her. The moment they said I needed a transplant, she said straight away she’d do it. My brother Sam put himself forward as well, but my mum was the best match for me according to the tests they did. So my mum gave me life in the first place and then she gave me my life back.”
Location: Swansea
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