British Transplant Games: 17 athletes from Northern Ireland take part

Richie Sheerin is one of 17 athletes competing in the games

Seventeen transplant survivors from Northern Ireland are to compete in the British Transplant Games in Leeds.

The games see about 1,000 transplant recipients from across the UK compete over four days in nearly 25 sports.

It is the first time the sporting event has happened since 2019 due to Covid-19.

The Northern Ireland team includes athletes who have been the recipients of kidney, liver and bone marrow donations.

Richie Sheerin, from Londonderry, has multiple myeloma which is an incurable bone marrow cancer.

He has had two stem cell transplants, most recently donated from his brother in 2020.

"I had signed up to be a bone marrow donor," the 39-year-old said.

"But you never think it's going to come to your door and you'll be looking for stem cells yourself."

Richie is competing in two cycling events at the games

Now in remission, the Derry man started cycling to aid his recovery following his cancer treatment and will compete in the 5km time trial and 10km road race events.

"Having the chance to compete and do a sport that you love, this gives you the platform to do that," he said.

"It's an unknown to me because it is my first time, but ideally I'd love to get on that podium and potentially get a spot over in the World Transplant Games in Perth next year."

Karen Keery (R) and her sister Jenny

Karen Keery had a kidney transplant nearly 10 years ago and while many organ recipients do not know their donors, Karen's new kidney came from her sister Jenny.

"I speak to my donor nearly every day," she said.

"We're very, very close and I think through lockdown we've got even closer.

"It's hard to explain, but we just have this bond now.

'Support and camaraderie'

Karen attends the games every year with her sister as an opportunity to meet others who have gone through the same experience of organ donation.

"The games are amazing, you just meet so many amazing people from everywhere," the 43-year-old said.

"I call it the hugging games, you make so many friends, there's so much support and camaraderie."

Orla has been attending the games for 15 years

The games mark a welcome return to normality after a difficult three years for some.

Some attending this year's event found themselves shielding during the coronavirus pandemic.

"Transplant patients were probably some of the people most affected by Covid," Transplant Sport Northern Ireland's chairwoman Orla Smyth said.

"The majority of transplant recipients were told to shield and a number were shielding for an awfully long time.

"I think it'll be a really special games because it's the first time in three years that the transplant community has been able to get together."

Orla has personal experience of organ donation, having also had two kidney transplants.

'The greatest gift'

Before her second transplant, Orla lived on dialysis for more than three years.

"To say organ donation is life changing is probably the biggest understatement," she said.

"You go from being kept alive by a machine eight or nine hours every night, to living a completely normal life, albeit taking some medication to ensure your body doesn't reject the transplant.

"The ability to live such a normal life after a successful transplant is the greatest gift that anybody could have."

The focus on sport and keeping active is an important aspect of the games for Orla.

"It's also important to encourage transplant patients to get out, live a healthy lifestyle and keep themselves fit and well after their transplant," she added.

"I've been attending the games for about 15 years now and without a shadow of a doubt it's the best thing that I've got involved in since becoming a transplant recipient."