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Competing in world games after surviving cancer

Alice Cullinane
BBC News, West Midlands
BBC A woman is wearing a red, white and blue cycling kit and sunglasses. She is holding a black bike and is standing in front of a field of grass.BBC
Jo Kelly joked that she would sleep in her Great Britain cycling kit if it was possible

At the age of 25, Jo Kelly's world came crashing down when she was given just months to live after being diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma.

After undergoing years of chemotherapy, her terminal diagnosis made her determined to marry the love of her life Pete before she died.

But then a matching stem cell donor was found in Germany which would give her a chance to stay alive and cancer-free.

"You're literally starting from scratch. The best way I can describe it is, you're pushed to the point of near death, and then you're brought back again," she said.

Thirteen years later, Ms Kelly, from Solihull, West Midlands, has two children and is preparing to compete in the World Transplant Games in August as a track cyclist for Great Britain.

Jo Kelly A woman is sitting in a hospital bed with a blue long-sleeved top and yellow banana trousers. She has hospital equipment wrapped around her arm. Another woman is standing next to her above the bed in a plastic apron. Jo Kelly
Ms Kelly loves everything about track cycling and watched it on TV in hospital

In 2012, Ms Kelly was waiting in hospital for her transplant from a stranger. At the same time, London was bustling with athletes arriving for the Olympics.

The data engineer entertained herself by watching the event on TV and became "obsessed" with the "strength, stamina and grace" of Olympic track cycling.

"I swore that if I got out of everything alive, that I would take up the sport and give it a go."

After recovering from her transplant, she started cycling and went on to win the women's road race twice at the British Transplant Games.

Jo Kelly A woman and a man are standing with a child in front of tall buildings. They are all smiling. Jo Kelly
Jo Kelly met her stem cell donor Stefan for the first time in 2020

In 2020, BBC Breakfast brought together Ms Kelly and her stem cell donor Stefan Berens for the first time.

The pair will be reunited this summer in Dresden, Germany as Mr Berens attends the World Transplant Games, which Ms Kelly said was "such a privilege".

"Stefan is very special to me, I'll be forever thankful that he was my one and only match," she said.

The 39-year-old has been training for past year in the gym and on the bike, fitting it around her full-time job and caring for her family.

"I'm definitely nervous, there are some really incredible cyclists competing. I'm really giving it my all to go for gold," she said.

Jo Kelly A woman is wearing a grey helmet and cycling on a bike along a country road.Jo Kelly
The 39-year-old encouraged people to share their organ donation wishes with their families

The data engineer said that taking part in the World Transplant Games was an "amazing opportunity" to spread awareness of the need for life-saving transplants.

She encouraged people to share their organ donation wishes with their families and join the stem cell register to help save lives.

Charity Anthony Nolan said people between the age of 16 and 30 could join the register to provide voluntary donations.

It has helped more than 20,000 people receive a lifesaving transplant since it was established in 1974.

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