Multisport: Breathless heights for double lung transplant recipient

When Scott Johnson was lying in a hospital bed "waiting to die", he wrote a list of things he would do if he survived. It was a varied list - surf in Costa Rica, climb a mountain, walk in the Rockies - but one in particular has gone on to consume his life. The 32-year-old from North Carolina has now raced in 11 triathlons and a few half-ironmans, and has his sights set on becoming the first double lung transplant recipient to finish a full ironman at the Bonita Ironman New Zealand.

An ironman is the Everest of multisport - 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and a full marathon. Johnson is well aware of what it will take to get to the finish line. But he's climbed much bigger mountains .

Johnson was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis soon after his right lung collapsed when he was six months old. He lived a largely normal life until the genetic disease began to get the better of him when he hit his 20s.

Cystic fibrosis becomes deadly when it attacks the lungs and it soon became apparent Johnson needed a double lung transplant to live. He received a perfect match in the nick of time in September 2001 (his doctors said he would have died within the week if he didn't receive a transplant), but his battle to begin a "normal" life was only just beginning.

He virtually had to learn how to walk again as he was little more than a skeleton. He did so in record time, returning to work three months after the operation. That was when the second bomb hit.

Johnson was rescued from his bathroom with a ruptured bowel. It had nothing to do with his transplant, nor cystic fibrosis, but after emergency surgery and three months of rehabilitation, Johnson was back on his feet.

"The doctors asked me again if they knew how lucky I was because I'm about one of only four people who have ever survived a perforated bowel after any transplant," Johnson says."I'm here for a reason and it made me feel like I'm bulletproof. But I've been given two gifts now and I know I shouldn't do anything crazy."

It's one's definition of crazy that matters here. While he has been asked why he doesn't just sit back, Johnson has a simple explanation.

"People don't realise this is fun for me. I am enjoying myself. When I was in hospital I wasn't actually sad or upset, I was mad. I had a lot of regrets because I had all of this stuff I wanted to do in my life but had run out of time.

"If I pulled through, I wanted to make sure that the next time I was lying in hospital I wouldn't have those regrets."

Johnson completed his first triathlon in 2003 on Mother's Day, an occasion that was highly emotional considering his mum was at the finish line to greet him.

"The first thing I did was grab her and say 'Happy Mother's Day'. She said it was the best gift anyone had ever given her."

Like a lot of athletes, Johnson became "addicted" to triathlons, which opened up the world of ironmans. After a few half-ironmans, he targeted the Florida Ironman in November before a friend discovered a website created by New Zealander Tracey Richardson, who was racing in the Hawaii Ironman and who had two children with cystic fibrosis. After a number of emails, Johnson decided to commit to the New Zealand Ironman because it was supporting cystic fibrosis.

"Initially I wasn't going to do it because it would have meant training through our winter," he says.

"But I knew that if I didn't do it I would regret it for the rest of my life. I can't guarantee I will finish it, but I would be disappointed in myself if I didn't. The only two ways I won't is if my bike fails or if I'm on a stretcher."

Johnson is now a model of health and fitness and, although cystic fibrosis will always be with him, the outlook for the battling American is bright.

"I wouldn't say I'm happy I had to go through it all but it has made me a better person because you realise that there's very little in life that you should get upset over. You truly appreciate life more when you go through something like that."

It'll likely be one of the things that drives him to the finish line in Taupo. It might feel like 17 hours of hell but Scott Johnson has been to hell and back - more than once.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY