Running Into Form For Melbourne’s Relay
Thursday, May 6th, 2004From The Melbourne Age – Thursday 6th May, 2004
Athletics has always been a focal point of Christine Griffiths’ life, to the point her doctors think it saved her life. After receiving a bone marrow transplant 16 years ago, she completed an amazing recovery by traveling to the World Transplant Games and winning gold.
“I was a runner before I had the transplant, and it’s really the athletics that has been one of the things that has kept me going through thick and thin.” said Ms Griffiths, 55. Having recovered from the transplant, she turned her attention to supporting people in the same position she had been in. As well as holding official roles with the Leukaemia Support Group and St John Ambulance, Ms Griffiths is the live-in manager fro the Bone Marrow Transplant House, which offers accommodation to people whose family members are receiving treatment. It was one of these guests who nominated her to carry the torch.
Ms Griffiths, who plans to volunteer at the Athens Olympics if she can find accommodation, has only one request when she runs her leg of the relay: “I just hope it’s a sunny day.”