womensrunninguk.co.uk MARCH 2017 27Melissa also became really ill and was
readmitted to hospital for blood-pressure
headaches, meningitis and then a severe
liver infection. “But after six months things
started to look up – I finally had enough hair
to get a pixie cut. I started back at work
and began running again.”
She describes her first run after her
transplant as a, “big, big step for me”. She
continues: “I surprised even myself that I
was able to run 5K with a completely new
immune system without much trouble,
even after 18 months of not running.
Later that year, I married my fiancé
James, who'd been amazingly supportive
throughout my illness.”RE-BIRTHDAY RUN
“I knew I wanted to mark the first
anniversary of my transplant with
something big, so I signed up to run a 10K
within days of my first 'rebirthday'. It wasn't
a pre-illness PB, but it wasn’t far off, and
the memory of my transplant friends who
died helped push me to run the whole race.
For the next few years, this anniversary
run was the only racing I’d do, even though
I'd resumed running several times a week.”
Then, in 2011, Melissa joined Run Dem
Crew, a London-based non-traditional
running group. “Within a year I'd run my
first half-marathon and shortly thereafter
a full marathon. It's an excuse to see your
friends, get some exercise, see different
parts of your city and be surrounded by
a fantastic mix of creative, driven and
inspiring people.”
The group gave her the confidence to
enter the British Transplant Games (BTG)
in 2013, four years after her transplant.
“It features competitors ranging from
toddlers to octogenarians in events
such as swimming, cycling, golf, tennis,
basketball and athletics. Every single one
of the thousands of competitors is only
there because of the generosity of their
donor or donor family, and it really does
allow you to see the power of donation to
save lives.”
She's usually a distance runner, but the
longest event at the BTG for women is 3K.
“So I had to train very differently for these
events, with huge amounts of core and
speed work and lots of time on the track.”
Based on her performances at the
2013 and 2014 games, Melissa was
selected to represent Great Britain at the
World Transplant Games in Argentinain August 2015. “I'm pleased to report I've
been selected for Team GB again and will be
competing in Malaga in June 2017. I returned
home from Argentina with six gold medals,
having won all of my events outright, as
well as for my age category. I also set a new
world record in the 1500m!”SEW FAR SO GOOD
Melissa inspires when not in her running
shoes, too. In 2013 she was made redundant
from her tech job and promptly started her
own sewing-pattern business, FehrTrade
(shop.fehrtrade.com), specialising in
activewear patterns for the home-sewing
market. “I began sewing and running at
about the same time,” she says. “I started
out by just following tutorials on the internet
and eventually was sewing everything from
jeans to faux-fur coats, to lingerie to my
wedding dress, which I made using fabric
from my grandmother's 1949 weddinggown. As I became increasingly fed up with
the activewear available in shops, which all
seemed to come in black or pink, in boring
designs, I started sewing that for myself, too.”
She's released 12 different sewing
patterns for running, cycling, surfing and
yoga. “So far I've run six marathons and
countless halfs and 10Ks in self-sewn gear.
I recently started a Print Club project to
pair my patterns with limited-edition fabric
designed by various illustrators and artists.
It's been great to support other creative
people and give customers interesting prints
that aren't available anywhere else.
“I can now say, 15 years into my running
journey, that I’ve experienced highs and lows,
been fat and slim, been healthy and sick, and
my love of running has endured it all. I am the
strongest and fastest I've ever been. Yet I still
continue to push myself, just to see what I’m
capable of. It’s not always easy, but I know
I’ve been through worse.”© JAMES O'BRIEN
FIND OUT MORE AND LEND YOUR SUPPORT
TO SPONSOR MELISSA'S HUSBAND JAMES, WHO'S CYCLING FROM LONDON TO PARIS FOR ANTHONY NOLAN, VISIT JUSTGIVING.COM/
FUNDRAISING/SPARRK; OR TO JOIN THE UK BONE-MARROW DONOR REGISTRY GO TO ANTHONYNOLAN.ORG OR DKMS.ORG.UK. VISIT
TRANSPLANTSPORT.ORG.UK FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE BRITISH TRANSPLANT GAMES AND WORLD TRANSPLANT GAMES.Melissa won big at the
World Transplant Games