Rugby has been in Rhys Goodfellow’s blood for as long as he can remember. His father Peter captained Glamorgan Wanderers, as well as having spells with Cardiff, Penarth, Newbridge and Bridgend, while his grandfather Peter was a Cardiff RFC legend who made 240 appearances for the club and went on to serve as chairman and fixture secretary.
Then there are his uncles on his mother’s side, Lyndon and Alan Thomas, who both played for Bridgend. So the sport has been a huge part of his life and, as such, he wasn’t going to let the little matter of a double organ transplant stop him from playing it.
Having suffered from cystic fibrosis from a young age, Rhys underwent surgery in October 2019, becoming the beneficiary of new lungs and liver at the age of 30. Showing huge determination, he was back playing rugby inside two years. In just his second game, he suffered a serious leg injury, but he wasn’t to be deterred and has gone on to figure at both full-back and scrum-half for Old Penarthians RFC this season. It’s an inspiring story.
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“I was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when I was two, so I’ve had it throughout my life really,” the 33-year-old explains. “It’s a disease that affects mainly the lungs and the main organs in the body. I was fine in secondary school, playing rugby, football, doing cross country. Any sport, you name it, I was playing it.
“But then, when I was 16, I was told I wasn’t allowed to play rugby any more because I’ve got an enlarged spleen. At the time I thought it was the end of the world. I was just gutted that I couldn’t play.
“Rugby was such a big part of my life. I remember going to a lot of the Cardiff games at the Arms Park when my grandad was on duty. We would be sat in the committee box watching the game and there would be the likes of Gareth Edwards there, Gerald Davies, all the stars. I remember Gareth Edwards introducing me to Serge Blanco one time. I just thought it was amazing. Rugby was very much in the family, so it was tough having to give up playing.”
But then, in his mid-20s, he decided to put his boots on once more, which meant telling a bit of white lie to his mother, who also has a sporting background, having won Schools caps for Wales and Great Britain in hockey.
“One of my best friends went out to America to play rugby and asked if I would be interested in going out as well," he said. "I just jumped on that straightaway. I thought ‘You know what, screw it, I fancy doing it’. You could walk across the road and get hit by a bus.
“So I went over to play for Rockaway Fisheads while in Long Beach, New York. I told a little white lie to my mum that I was going over to do a bit of coaching, because I had my level one by then, but I ended up playing.
“Then when I came back I had a handful of games for Penarth, but I had to knock it on the head because I was getting unwell. My health wasn’t great. I just wasn’t fit enough to be on the rugby field. The nature of the beast took over and my lungs started deteriorating. I was picking up constant infections and I was in and out of hospital. My oxygen levels would drop so much if I was doing any kind of strenuous stuff. It got so bad, I had to have an oxygen canister if I was going on long walks or to the gym. I was really unwell.”
As a result, Rhys was placed on the transplant list and underwent his major surgery at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham some three years ago. “They had to do the liver as well as the lungs because I had cirrhosis of the liver as a knock-on effect of the cystic fibrosis," he explained. "But since the transplant, I’ve had no major speed-bumps and it’s been brilliant. I’m back into sport and doing rugby.”
He made his comeback for Old Penarthians in a 10-a-side match against Ynysybwl in June 2021. “I was pumped, I was ready," he said. "As soon as I had the chance I just flew into someone to get my first hit in. That kind of set the tone for me. I had a ridiculous tackle count in the first five minutes! I was into it and felt comfortable.”
Yet in his next game, a 15-a-side meeting with Llandaff, he broke his tibia and did his ankle ligaments.
“After that, I did think about not bothering, but after everything I had been through nothing was going to stop me," he said. "I was back playing by December and I have just really enjoyed it. My confidence has definitely grown. It’s so nice to be back and I’m just making up for lost time now."
Goodfellow, who works as senior compliance officer for a solicitors in Cardiff, has huge gratitude to the cystic fibrosis ward in Llandough. “They have been absolutely amazing for me since I was a teenager,” he said, while also praising the Birmingham hospital where he had his life-changing transplant.
