I haven't been here in a while but I wanted to share my good news so that it might give others hope that you can return to a healthy, full life after a transplant, too.
Two weeks ago I competed in the
World Transplant Games in Mar del Plata, Argentina for Team GB (I grew up in America but moved to London 13 years ago and I had my transplant here in 2009). The Games are for athletes of all ages who have had an organ or bone marrow transplant from a donor, and 1100 of us from 44 countries took part, competing in a wide range of events.
I was a runner before my transplant, but afterwards, I worked really hard to slowly become much stronger, faster, and fitter than ever before, eventually having completed 5 marathons post-transplant (including 2 Boston Qualifiers). In the Games I competed in the longest they offer - the 5km road race, and on the track, the 1500m, 800m, and 400m. Track stuff is so brutally short and fast for me, so my coach and I have worked ridiculously hard over the past 8 months training for this!
And it paid off - I performed better than in my wildest dreams, coming home with a total of 6 gold medals!! Four individual and two team, including a new WORLD RECORD in the 1500m, and a World's Best time in the 5km, beating women literally half my age in every single event.
But the best thing about the Games was the camraderie with other transplant athletes from all around the globe, and knowing that each and every one of us was only there thanks to the generosity of our donors. Transplant athletes are some of the nicest and most resilient people you'll ever meet, and I feel so proud to have been a part of Team GB.
If you're interested in more details of my individual events, I posted more about
the 5km road race here and
the track events here.
The next World Transplant Games are in Malaga, Spain in July 2017, and I really, really hope that I'll see some of you there!!