Ana Browne is no ordinary golfer. Hidden inside her body she carries a secret handicap that’s invisible to her playing partners but one that has saved her life. In 2020 Ana underwent a double lung transplant. It was an invasive life-saving surgery, as her health had deteriorated so much that without a transplant she would have had only months to live.
“At 18 I was given two years to live as I became very ill, but then I became stronger and had my 20th, then my 30th birthday,” she explains. “My mum said she never thought I’d make 30 but after it I started to deteriorate. I made my 40th birthday and just kept going until aged 41 when I had my lung transplant. I'm now 46 and have had a precious extra five years so far with my two children, husband, family and friends. I'm forever grateful and living life.”
Ana had never picked up a golf club before her transplant but in the months post-surgery she found joy in the therapeutic effects of learning the sport outdoors.
“After my surgery I was looking for a new sport that would be safe for me to participate in, as I'm on immunosuppression medication for the rest of my life, which makes me vulnerable and high risk,” she explains. “Before my transplant, I couldn't walk for more than three minutes without needing oxygen; even holding a conversation was exhausting. Today, I can walk 18 holes of a golf course. It changed my life.”
To say that Ana’s transplant was life-saving would be an under-statement. As a Cystic Fibrosis sufferer, a life-limiting respiratory condition, her life expectancy growing up was roughly 34 years old. Only two years different from her now golf handicap of 32. Getting the transplant was her opportunity to extend her life. After her operation Ana discovered that golf was the perfect sport that could be played alone or in a small group for medical reasons.
“Golf is my therapy, the joy I feel being outside, being able to walk again, and taking in all the beauty of the course is incredible,” she enthuses. “It makes me feel alive and free, it takes away the anxieties that life brings. Golf is my recovery, it gives me a sense of purpose and significantly improves my physical and mental health.”
Ana joined Finchley Golf Club’s Impact Golf Academy and has formed life-long friendships with the women there. “It was important to me to be part of a community and have a sense of belonging,” she adds. Nevertheless she has faced both physical and mental challenges playing golf post-transplant.
“My biggest challenge post-transplant is living with chronic nerve pain, it has been in my chest area since my surgery,” she explains. “The main issue is I am opiate resistant, which means that this type of pain relief has no effect on me, so I'm in pain all the time. My pain limits me in my daily activities, but I'm determined not to let this stop me from achieving my goals.”
One of those goals was to get good enough at golf to take part in the World Transplant Games (WTG). The Games are like the Olympics in all sporting disciplines for competitors who have received a life-saving organ transplant, be it heart, lung, liver, kidney, pancreas, small bowel or bone marrow. They are the largest organ donor awareness event in the world, featuring a week of 17 sporting events.
Ana was selected to represent Team GB after she won a silver medal in the Ladies Stableford individual competition at the British Transplant Games held in Nottingham in 2024. She now goes forth to join over 1000 other transplant athletes, both juniors and adults, and live donors from 60 countries across the globe in the 25th edition of the World Games in Dresden, Germany this summer.
“When I found out I had qualified for the Games I was delighted and felt very honoured that I will get to represent my country,” she insists. “I immediately made a plan with my PGA Coach Craig Normansell. He has taught me from the beginning, he knows all the strengths and weaknesses in my golf game. We are working on my confidence over the ball, to swing with intention and not to overthink everything, allowing my natural ability to shine and to stop trying to control it.”
As well as great exercise in the outdoors, another advantage of learning golf post-major surgery was that it has helped Ana to get stronger.
“My golf clubs feel heavy due to my upper body weakness and my hand grip difficulties, so I started weight training at Body Swing Solution,” she explains. “Golf fitness is fantastic and has made a massive difference to my overall fitness, swing speed and ball distance.”
As for Ana’s chances of coming home with a Gold medal from the Games, she says that her biggest challenge is self-negative talk whilst playing, before and after my shot.
“I've been working on this for the past 18 months and now before I take a shot I'm so focused that my mind blocks out all noise around me automatically, which is great. However, my negative thoughts pop into my head instead. I have thoughts like, ‘I’m not good enough’, ‘I'm not going to be able to make this shot’, ‘I can’t do this.’ ‘Why am I still playing golf?”
Ana has had to learn to reframe her thoughts and use positive self-talk. “I tell myself, I've got this, I can hit my 5-wood well, I'm a good putter, and I remind myself how far I've come. I like to look around at the scenery and wildlife. I take a breath and it helps me relax. I use visualisation in my pre-shot routine and I take a slow, deep breath before each shot. I tell myself that I can always hit my next shot better if it goes wrong, and to take one shot at a time.”
Despite still being in recovery from her transplant, Ana finds the time to volunteer as a special education needs advocate for parents/carers of autistic and ADHD young people, supporting them in navigating the education system so that they can support their young people the best way they can.
Ana admits that overcoming life-changing surgery has helped to shape her mental approach to life, which naturally transfers to the golf course, despite feeling like she wanted to give up many times.
“I tire very quickly, both physically and mentally, pain limits me, as well as my other health conditions; it’s exhausting but I never give up on anything, I find ways to manage how I am feeling on the golf course. My struggles have made me mentally stronger than ever. Golf is a tough mental game. I've had to accept that if I'm doing 18 holes I have to use a golf buggy to preserve my energy and maintain my focus.”
Every organ donor can potentially save up to nine lives, Ana wrote to her donor’s family to thank them but got no reply. All she knows is that he was a 16-year-old young man. She was gifted lungs, and it saved her life.
“I think he would be extremely proud of me and surprised at all of the things I have accomplished since my transplant,” Ana answers thoughtfully. “I feel like I'm 18 again at 46 years old, it’s the best feeling ever. I remember when I first walked the whole length of the first hole at Finchley Golf Club after my operation. I felt overwhelmed, I became teary and felt immense happiness, it was surreal.”
Ana even met her best friend, a fellow forty-something learning golf. They realised that there weren’t a lot of ladies their age at any local clubs so they started a North London Ladies Golf Community and named it Ladies_Can_Golf. They organise fun events for ladies of all abilities to play golf in a relaxed no pressure environment, followed by a sociable lunch.
“I feel passionately about ladies having equal opportunities in golf,” she adds. “We are a diverse group of ladies of all ages and would love others to join us.”
