Richard Koper has gray hair and has two grown children, but he just turned 6 years old in July.

That's how long it has been since he was reborn, he says, and entered a "whole new world" after receiving a new kidney and pancreas, thanks to the Center for Organ Recovery and Education (CORE) and a 52-year-old organ donor from Pennsylvania.

The woman who gave him his new life died from a gunshot wound to the head, and Koper received both organs in a matter of hours after her death.

Koper, 57, says he hopes the family knows what a wonderful gift their loved one has given him. "I feel better now than I have my entire life," he says.

Since his double transplant in July, 2001, Koper's life has changed dramatically. He no longer needs insulin for his diabetes and no longer has to undergo dialysis.

He regularly works out at a nearby gym, has participated in the transplant olympics and Iron Man competitions and volunteers for CORE and the National Kidney Foundation of the Alleghenies.

He founded a transplant support group, has spoken about organ donations at health fairs and local schools, including Moon, and has a new job in the Life Flight office at Allegheny General Hospital.

He can eat practically anything he wants now, and after the transplant, a Snickers bar was brought to him on a little silver tray by UPMC hospital staff.

But, he says, he watches his diet because he likes to stay in shape and be athletic.

As he drinks his coffee at a kitchen table in his Oakdale apartment, he admits with a smile that his doctors don't want him to have caffeine.

Although he has cut down some, he says he likes regular coffee and can't and won't stay away from it completely.

In his younger years, Koper says, he wasn't athletic at all and had to stay away from many foods, especially sweets, since he was diagnosed with diabetes at age 12.

That meant Christmas and Halloween treats were not allowed, and his mother "watched him like a hawk."

But he knew the day would come when the diabetes would affect more than his eating habits.

In 1999, the moment came that Koper had been dreading. While vacationing in Myrtle Beach, he became so cold his teeth were chattering even though it was 80 degrees outside.

His ankles swelled twice their size, and he quickly went to the nearest emergency room.

The doctors diagnosed him with renal failure and put him on water pills until he could start dialysis back in Pittsburgh.

"That word dialysis scared me to death," he says.

He began Peritoneal dialysis at home, with each treatment taking eight hours each day. As soon as he began dialysis, doctors asked him if he wanted a new kidney.

"I said, 'well, that's a stupid question.' Then, they asked me if I wanted a pancreas too, because of the diabetes. I said, 'if you are going to open me up for one, you might as well do two."

When his peritoneal cavity became infected, he began another type of dialysis, Hemo, at a local clinic three times a week for four hours at a time.

Then, he got the call.

"I can remember it like it was yesterday," he says. "Back then, they gave you a pager to carry. It was attached to my hip. Wherever I went, the pager went."

He was living in Irwin and was at home when he got the call telling him a kidney and pancreas were available. He rushed to UPMC's emergency room, only to find out the organs were not useable.

Finally, in July 2001 he got another call. This time he was attending a car show, but still wasn't far away from UPMC.

"I always kept a suitcase packed, so I just threw it in my car and went," he recalls.

Even though the organs were not a perfect match, they don't have to be, Koper explains.

"It's not a big deal now," he says, "because of the advances in anti-rejection drugs. I take 13 pills in the morning and four at night."

News of his athletic abilities and new life spread quickly, and representatives from an anti-rejection drug company came to his gym to take his photo. The photo will be used in the company's promotional materials, he says.

A UPMC doctor and sports medicine officials at the hospital are hoping to get funding to begin an exercise program for transplant recipients and have asked Koper, who also has a medical background, to lead the program.

In the meantime, he keeps working out to prepare to be the first double transplant recipient to compete in a full Iron Man competition in Hawaii.

He also is preparing for his second transplant Olympics, to be held in Pittsburgh in July, 2008, the same month as his two birthdays -- his original birth and his rebirth with his new organs.

Koper, a former EMT, also sits on the board of the Transplant Recipients International Organization at Montefiore Hospital and leads his own transplant support group, in conjunction with the Kidney Foundation, held at King's Restaurant in Imperial the third Sunday of each month.

And, his work helping others won't end with his death, he says, because on his driver's license, under his picture, are the words, "organ donor."

For more information on Koper's support group, call him at 412-787-3987.