She couldn't blow out the candles on her 50th birthday cake.

Now, with a stranger’s lungs in her chest, Kath Cross is gearing up to ride 30 kilometres in one of New Zealand’s toughest cycling events.

The 51-year-old Rotorua woman will line up for the 30 km mountain bike ride at the Lake Taupō Cycle Challenge in November, just nine months after receiving a double-lung transplant. She’s doing it not just for herself, but to raise awareness and funds for the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation NZ.

“I’ve been given a new life – it feels so surreal,” she says. “This ride is my way of giving back, and showing people what’s possible.”

Kath lives with rheumatoid arthritis-associated obliterative bronchiolitis (RA-OB), a rare lung disease that mimics “popcorn lung.”

Initially misdiagnosed as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), she was prescribed inhalers and nebulisers that never worked.

“Eventually, they did more tests and found my lung function was just 29%."

The next two and a half years were a downward spiral.

“I couldn’t walk to the letterbox without stopping for breath.”

Doctors eventually told her she may have only a year to live and placed her on the active waitlist for a transplant.

“I remember thinking, ‘This isn’t the end. I’ve got to keep going.’”

Six months later, the call came. In October 2024, she became New Zealand lung transplant recipient #420.

Seven weeks after her miracle surgery, she was home, and the very first thing she did was get back on her bike.

“I biked 5 km. It felt amazing just to move again.”

Mountain biking has long been her passion.

During Covid lockdowns, she and her husband John rode together every day.

“John’s been my rock through all of this. I couldn’t have done it without him.”

For years, Kath kept her illness quiet.

“I had oxygen tanks, but I wouldn’t use them," she says. "I just wanted to be normal. I didn’t want anyone feeling sorry for me.”

Now she’s speaking out, determined to highlight the impact of respiratory disease in New Zealand.

This year, she’s already planning a symbolic milestone – on the first anniversary of her transplant, she will climb Mount Maunganui.

And for her 52nd birthday, she has one request: “I want as many candles on the cake as possible. This time, I’m going to blow them all out.”

She doesn’t know much about her donor – only that she was a 61-year-old woman – but she plans to write to the family on the one-year mark.

“I want them to know I’m living the best life I can. It really is the ultimate gift.”

Her lung function is now at 72%, and she’s hoping to get to 100% –or close to.

When she takes to the Taupō trails this November, Kath won’t just be racing – she’ll be celebrating survival, resilience, and the breath that allows her to ride again.

Want to support Kath taking on the Taupō cycle challenge?

Head to her fundraiser here.