Christine Griffiths: Official Site

Photo: Jim Weatherill

Tropical Passion

This heading should probably read “Athletic passion” because that’s certainly Christine Griffiths’ life purpose, but pursuing her major ambition has come at a (somewhat crippling) cost.

Our local sports ‘meteor’ recently went public with her plea for donated funding to compete in Bangkok’s forthcoming 16th World Transplant Games.

Restricted to international athletes who have undergone one of modern medicine’s miracles, 100 Australians compete in the biennial Transplant Games. These are run for dedicated athletes who refuse to let major bodily ailments interrupt their life passion.

Nurse Christine will take leave from her work at the Bone Marrow Donor Institute House in Blackwood Street, North Melbourne, to compete in Bangkok’s race walking and sprinting, long jump, table tennis and tennis IF she can gather just under $5000 for fares and accommodation in the Games city.

And her prowess is a sure bet: at the last Transplant Games held in Canada’s London, Ontario, Christine – at 56 – won gold in
the table tennis doubles and bronze in the singles.

“There were no medals in my other events, but that was to be expected,” she admits, frowning. “I had big ventilation problems back then, what with only 50 per cent lung capacity, so the 3-kilometre race walk, road run and mixed doubles tennis were no-go.”

Given her medical history, colleagues probably decry her planned heavy exercise in the tropics; nearly 20 years ago Christine had a bone marrow transplant to overcome chronic myeloid leukaemia and, while the CML was relieved, all cancers – and most treatments – compromise other body parts and there have been ensuing problems.

But there’s no holding this lady down. Her recent application to the City of Melbourne for its Active Melbourne grant of $2000 for sports people would be delivered over 12 months and used to highlight the benefits of her active lifestyle to patients and their associates in both her institute’s treatment house and the wider community.

“I’ve just got a job teaching the COTA (Council on the Ageing) program Living Longer, Living Stronger at Lifestyle Williamstown gym and there is plenty of full-time work elsewhere, but my medicos want me to work only eight hours per week. “This whole thing stresses me out so much, what with the training, and the funding and the money-raising,” she groans, “but I hope to go to the Beijing Olympics as a volunteer in ‘O8, so that’s the next goal.”

And you can bet Christine’s next project will be promoting the 18th World Transplant Games: they’ll be held on the Gold Coast 9-17 August 2009.
Full info on Christine’s Bangkok sponsorship case can be found on www.christinegriffiths.com.

Katrina Kincade-Sharkey

JUNE 2007 :: North and West Melbourne News

click picture for a larger view

Christine Griffiths, from Melbourne Australia, carrying the Olympic Torch for the 2006 Winter Olympics.

Three silver medals – for the 3,000 metres road walk, and 1,500 and 800 metres track running events. That was the impressive tally for La Trobe graduate Christine Griffith at the recent World Transplant Games in Manchester, UK.

Ms Griffith has been living with leukemia since her diagnosis in 1988. She underwent a succesful bone marrow transplant in 1989, but the years since have been fraught with much illness.

She was part of a fifty-strong Australian team at Manchester that competed against 800 people from more than thirty-five countries. An appeal by the La Trobe University Credit Union raised $5,000 to send her to the Games.

Well-known on the Bundoora campus for her spirited determination, Ms Griffith, a resident tutor and nurse at Glenn College, trains for sporting achievement whenever she can. At last year’s Australian Transplant Games she won five gold medals.

Illness during games

Ms Griffith has a Bachelor of Arts degree in social sciences and a Diploma and Bachelor degree in education from La Trobe, as well as a Master of Nursing degree from RMIT. Despite being ill during the games and suffering from a painful hamstring injury, she went on post-game bus tours of the UK and Europe.

Thanking those who donated to the appeal to send her to Manchester, she said: ‘These were possibly my last games and I may never again have the opportunity to travel and catch up with many of the people I met. I’m glad I did it and made the best of it at the time.
‘However, seeing the next World Transplant Games will be in Australia, I might get my old determination back and compete again.’

Having a transplant improves the quality of your life, she said. ‘But it doesn’t mean you live a life like most people. I often still spend long periods unwell and in hospital.’

Ms Griffiths is now ‘looking desperately’ for a regular part-time job. Her College post reduces her rent, but does not pay. ‘I have done so many things in my life that I never dreamed I would be doing since the transplant,’ she concluded, ‘but now I would just love to get a regular job.’

Mr Doug Andrews, Manager of the La Trobe University Credit Union – which arranged for the Bone Marrow Donor Institute to visit the University recently to encourage people to join the Bone Marrow Registry – said the Transplant Games highlight the need for organ donation, the quality of life of organ recipients, and show gratitude to the families of organ donors.

Details about bone marrow donations from the Bone Marrow Institute, (03)
9342 7286.

NOVEMBER 1995 BULLETIN 16 LA TROBE UNIVERSITY

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Christine Griffiths, winner of the Gold Medal in the 3 Km Road Race. World Transplant Games, Manchester. August 14-20 1995.

Christine Griffiths is set to give Australia gold in the world transplant games in Manchester following funding for the trip by the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind.

Christine, 46, who has a vision impairment, is Australia’s top chance in bringing back gold in several athletic events at the games held August 14-20, which attracted 1500 competitors worldwide.

“It has always been a dream of mine to compete internationally and now thanks to RVIB I’m confident of improving on the form I had at the Australian transplant games last year,” said Christine.

She collected a string of gold medals and in the world transplant games she is tackling the 200, 800 and 1500m on the track and the 3000m road walk and the 3000m road run.

Christine will join up to 60 Australian competitors for the transplant games, aimed at making people aware of the need for more organ donors while showing the benefits gained.

“Transplant recipients are able to enjoy quality of life thanks to families of organ donors,” she said.

Christine, who received a bone marrow transplant in 1988 after suffering leukemia, is learning computer skills at RVIB.

RVIB (Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind) newsletter. 1995.