Transplant Games athletes use sport as mental therapy after serious illness

Two Northern Irish competitors, Richie Sheerin and Kay Hack, are taking part in the British Transplant Games in Sheffield, highlighting how sport helped them recover from bone marrow cancer and leukaemia.

Richie Sheerin from Londonderry was told in 2018 that he had a rare bone marrow cancer, a moment he described as "the lights being turned off." After several stem-cell transplants, including a donation from his brother, he turned to cycling to escape thoughts of relapse, calling it his "mental medicine." Kay Hack of Coleraine survived acute myeloid leukaemia after a 2019 transplant and now competes in multiple events, noting that careful training is essential due to a still-weakened immune system.

Both athletes are part of Team NI, which fields 26 participants—20 transplant recipients and six living kidney donors—at the British Transplant Games in Sheffield from 6-9 August. The Games celebrate over 45 years of organ-donation awareness and aim to inspire more people to register as donors. Kathryn Glover, Team Manager for Sport Northern Ireland, highlighted the athletes' determination and the vital role of generous donors in enabling their participation.