Bay of Plenty woman celebrates 30 years since having liver transplant by doing 243km multisport race

Bay of Plenty woman Katie Hodge was only a year old when she travelled to Australia for a life-saving liver transplant. Her health condition meant her childhood consisted of many hospital visits, always getting sick and needing bile duct reconstruction surgery. Thirty years later, Hodge considers herself “lucky” to be healthy and active and is tackling a 243km multisport race to mark 30 years since getting the transplant. Megan Wilson reports.

Two hundred and forty-three kilometres of running, biking and kayaking will see Katie Hodge traverse from the South Island’s west to east coast.

She is participating in the “iconic” multisport race - the Coast to Coast - on Friday and Saturday, raising money for Starship Children’s Hospital.

Originally from Pikowai near Whakatāne, Hodge was born with a liver condition called biliary atresia. Just after her first birthday, her mother took her to Australia for a life-saving liver transplant on April 1, 1994.

The avid hiker, biker and kayaker is now doing the race to “mark this point in my life”.

“Despite everything I’ve been through with my health, look how far I’ve come and look what I’m still able to do.”

Two lifesaving surgeries

As a newborn, Hodge said she looked like she had jaundice. Her mother took her to a specialist where Hodge was diagnosed with biliary atresia.

“They weren’t doing transplants in New Zealand so it was a big deal ... Mum left my brother with my Dad and the farm, and then it was me and her that went to Australia and we were there for six months waiting for that transplant.

“It cost a lot of money to go and do it ... and not knowing also if I’d make it.

“I feel very lucky that I’m here and I’m this healthy and I’m able to do all the things I want to do.”

Katie Hodge had a lifesaving liver transplant when she was a baby. Photo / Alex Cairns

She said the first seven years of her life were “really hard” with many hospital visits. With a “suppressed” immune system and adjusting to the new liver, she often got “really sick”.

In 2008, a blood test, ultrasounds and liver biopsies revealed she needed to undergo bile duct reconstruction surgery.

Hodge said her bile duct had “narrowed so much that it wasn’t pushing the bile through”.

She had keyhole surgery, opting to stay awake so she could be “as involved as I could be” with decision-making.

“They put a stent in initially to just widen up the bile duct and that was a temporary fix.”

Katie Hodge is doing the Coast to Coast two-day multisport race this week in the South Island - a 243km race involving running, cycling and kayaking. Photo / Alex Cairns

A second surgery involved being “cut right across my abdomen”.

Hodge spent six months “coming and going” from Starship Hospital for surgeries.

“My focus through that whole thing was, ‘How can I get back on the netball court by the end of the year?’

“And I did, despite being super sick.”

Hodge said she had regular check-ups and blood tests and could live life as “normal”.

A ‘mission in the mountains’

Hodge, a massage therapist and plant-based chef, said she had spent the past 10 years travelling and working all over the world. She also used to work on super yachts.

She loved being in nature, meditating, practising yoga and was passionate about health and wellbeing.

Hodge said the “iconic” Coast to Coast race spans 243km, starting in Kumara near Greymouth.

She described it as a two-day “mission in the mountains”. Her goal was to finish the race as there were cut-off times for each day.

Katie Hodge is raising money for Starship Hospital by participating in the Coast to Coast race and is celebrating 30 years since having a liver transplant. Photo / Alex Cairns

“We run along the beach in Kumara and then go through Arthur’s Pass. We’re biking up into Arthur’s Pass and then running over Goat Pass.

“The second day is a kayak down the Waimakariri River and then cycle the home straight ... and you’re ending up on [New] Brighton Beach in Christchurch.

“The fact that it’s going through the Southern Alps is pretty awesome.”

Her mother and brother will be her “logistical arms and legs” and transport her gear.

Hodge is raising money for Starship Hospital “to say thank you” for the care she received as a child and has set up a Givealittle page.

Megan Wilson is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.