Just 14 months ago, Katherine Cross was deep in recovery from a lifesaving double-lung transplant. Now she’s embracing everything she once only dreamed of doing again, including recently mountain biking 30km in the Lake Taupō Cycle Challenge – an achievement powered by gratitude, grit and the memory of her dear friend Jan Cowan.
“When I first got to [Auckland’s heart and lung transplant recovery centre] Hearty Towers, someone said, ‘Welcome to the family you never wanted to be part of,’” recalls Katherine, 52.
“I met Jan there – she had a double-lung transplant around the same time as me. We talked about mountain biking a lot and how one day we’d go together, but unfortunately, she had complications and passed away. “I wanted to ride for a reason. Because I can now is a great reason, but also to raise awareness for organ donation and for Jan because she can’t.”
Before her transplant, Katherine had only 29 percent lung function and couldn’t walk to the letterbox or up stairs without stopping. Even blowing out candles on her birthday cake was an impossible task.
Struggling to breathe
“I’d go to a meeting and if there were stairs, I would just look at them like it was my worst nightmare because I knew at the top of them, I wouldn’t be able to talk,” she shares.
Katherine’s decline had been slow and confusing. About 10 years ago, she was diagnosed with the autoimmune condition rheumatoid arthritis, which, for the most part, was managed well with medication.
Then, in 2020, while on her daily mountain-bike rides and dog walks with her husband John, Katherine found herself regularly struggling to breathe.
Diagnosed with obliterative bronchiolitis
Multiple tests were done and medications tried without any improvement, until finally Katherine was diagnosed with obliterative bronchiolitis, a rare complication of rheumatoid arthritis.
She explains, “Basically, the inflammation from rheumatoid had caused narrowing in my airways. “My specialist had only seen one other case in 30 years and that was in South Africa – that’s why it was hard to find treatment.”
Waiting for a lifesaving call
In 2022, Katherine was placed on the active transplant waiting list and packed her hospital bag, ready for the call-up at any moment.
“I liken it to being pregnant and waiting for your baby to come – it can happen any time and you don’t know when.”
Nine months later, the phone rang.
“I got a call on a Friday night at 10.30 that they had found a match and I had to be in Auckland City Hospital by 7am the next morning,” she tells.
The long night drive
Katherine and John, 66, drove through the night from their Rotorua home, arriving at 2.30am. The last thing she recalls was her daughters Brianna, 25, and Myah, 21, giving a hesitant thumbs-up before the eight-hour surgery, then waking up in the ICU three days later.
“I was so happy when I woke up, saw my husband and realised that I’d come through it,” says Katherine.
Recovery at Hearty Towers
Two weeks in hospital were followed by five more at Hearty Towers, with daily physio and blood tests.
“That’s where the healing starts… Hearty Towers is such an amazing place,” enthuses Katherine.
“When you leave, it feels like you’re leaving family after being in that safe space.”
Returning to life
When she got home, the first thing Katherine wanted to do was hop right back on her bike.
“We rode down the cycle path and did 5km,” she says. “I had such a big smile on my face the whole time – that was the day I got home from the hospital.”
Now she’s back mountain biking with friends weekly.
“It’s not easy, but it’s achievable and feels so amazing to be in the forest again,” she reflects.
Honouring a friend’s legacy
Katherine is still in regular contact with the family of her late friend Jan, who was also a mother of two girls – “I think we’ll have a lifelong friendship” – and she wants to live a life Jan would be proud of.
“That’s why I don’t say no very often now,” she explains.
“Someone has to pass away for us [donor lung recipients] to live. “I did have that guilt for a while, knowing there was a family out there grieving for their loved one, but I have to remember how thankful I am and what an amazing gift I’ve been given, and to take every opportunity offered to me.”
The gift of organ donation
Most of all, Katherine hopes that others will consider becoming donors. Last year, with the support of their whānau, 70 people donated organs, leading to more than 200 patients receiving lifesaving transplants.
“Please talk to your family about organ donation,” Katherine implores.
“And thank you so much to those families who do so we can have a chance at life.”
To find out more about organ donation, visit donor.co.nz/thank-you-day
