‘We’ve all looked and felt terrible’
The special camaraderie of the Transplant Games
A RETIRED academic from Barry who received a bone marrow transplant has won a gold and two bronze medals in cycling competitions at the World Transplant Games in Perth, Australia.
Professor Nick Topley, 62, who has lived in Barry since 1989, was first treated for aplastic anaemia in 2009, a condition whereby the body’s own bone marrow starts eating itself, and in December 2012 he received a successful transplant after his sister was found to be a suitable donor.
Nick was part of the Great Britain team who won gold in the 20km team time trial, and he won bronze medals in both the 10km individual time trial and the 30km road race, all of which took place at Wanneroo Raceway.
Nick, who is an Emeritus Professor at the Cardiff School of Medicine, has been a keen sportsman all his life, and played football, rugby, cricket and golf to a good standard into his 40s, but following his transplant, it was four-and-a-half years before he could properly exercise again.
In 2017, Nick discovered cycling when he saw his neighbour, Supt Colin Jones going for a bike ride and asked if he could join him.
That day, they cycled 5km and, in his own words, Nick became ‘a bit of an obsessive’ and nowadays he regularly rides in excess of 100km.
In October 2017, Nick took part in his first triathlon in Majorca, where he and two friends operated as a team with Nick competing in the cycling while the others took part in the running and swimming.
Success at the British Transplant Games followed two years later when Nick won the silver medal in the time trial for 50-59-year-olds at Maindy Velodrome in Cardiff, and at last summer’s games in Leeds, he competed in the 60-69-year-olds category where he won gold in the time trial and bronze in the road race.
An elbow injury forced Nick to withdraw from the European Transplant and Dialysis Games in Oxford last August, and he feared he may not be able to make it to the World Transplant Games as an operation would have meant six months of recovery, but with the help of his friend Dr Geoff Davies, the problem has almost completely disappeared: “Geoff has worked as a sports physician with the Welsh rugby team and the Lions for many years, and the way he sorted out my elbow injury was close to miraculous. I can’t begin to thank him enough,” he said.
Nick considers himself fortunate to have been able to travel to Perth for the World Transplant Games, as no Welsh Government funding was made available, and entry to the games cost £800 per person, while flights, accommodation and the transportation of equipment takes the overall cost to around £5,000: “We compete as the Wales Transplant Team at the British Transplant Games, but at the World Transplant Games we are part of the GB Transplant Team.
“The Welsh Government gives funding to the Wales Transplant Team, who prioritise the British Transplant Games, but a lot of athletes are on their own when it comes to paying for the World Transplant Games.
“I was fortunate in that I have the means to be able to afford it, and I know the Perth area well in any case because my academic work has seen me travel there around 10 times before, and I’ve stayed for as long as six months at a time.
“For working people who are struggling to make ends meet with rising inflation and bills, it was simply unaffordable, and I think it’s a great shame the Welsh Government didn’t do more to support the athletes.
“There’s too much of an attitude in Wales of ‘let’s get a committee together’ or ‘let’s do an impact assessment’, which slows everything down and ties everything up in bureaucracy.
“I’ve been trying to get to the bottom of exactly how the Welsh Government and Sport Wales allocates money for these things for a long time, and I’m not getting any clear answers,” he said.
While Nick is delighted with his medal tally from Perth, he considers the winning to be just one aspect of being a part of the games.
The opening ceremony at the Optus Stadium was something Nick says he will never forget: “There is a strong sense of camaraderie among all of us who take part in the World Transplant Games.
“No matter where we’re from, we have all looked death in the face, we’ve all looked terrible and felt terrible, so we can relate to one another’s experiences.
“Each of us has our own story, and yet there we were, gathering from all corners of the world, to be part of something very special. It is a wonderful experience that stays with you forever,” he said.
Nick says he is not planning any major celebrations and is already looking ahead to the British Transplant Games, which will take place in Coventry in July. He said: “For me, the big celebration was being part of that opening ceremony, with so many other transplant patients from all over the world.
“It was a wonderful opportunity to meet people, share experiences, and make friends for life – it really did give me a tremendous high.”
By MARCUS STEAD
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