I I learnt to walk with my son, now I'm running a marathon

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I'm fundraising for Brain Injury New Zealand and inspiring others by running a marathon after I was told I would never walk again.

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After two years in hospital, following a severe traumatic brain injury, I was told I would never walk again. I was determined I would prove them wrong.

My inspiration was my 18 month old son. He was just learning to walk. The race was on!

From dealing with both of our nappies when I first left hospital, to supporting us both to learn to walk, my devoted wife Liz has been a rock.

Though we met just under a year before my accident, Liz has been by my side through my whole recovery, including doing a triathlon with me six years after I left hospital. The medics couldn't believe my miraculous recovery.

I ran my first marathon ten years after my injury, and I'm even fitter now than before. I'm determined to continue to defy the odds, and returning to NZ to run the Auckland marathon is my next challenge.

Brain injury survivors need support and inspiration on the long road to recovery. There can be setbacks, but it's important to keep focused and not to lose hope.

The brain is incredibly adaptable, and there is a chance things will turn out better than predicted. I want to take something positive from my experience and use it to inspire other survivors to be resilient - to stay focused on the best outcome for themselves and to become as good as, or even better than before.

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Set back in the training 10 October 2024

I ran the Derry half marathon at the beginning of September. As I was jogging to the start I fell. I found out the next day I broke a bone in my hand and cracked a rib. At the time I was only focused on running the half marathon with Liz, it was her first half marathon that we trained for together. I think the adrenaline got me round the 13 miles. It wasn't till we were driving home afterwards that I felt the pain and I fainted. An X ray the next day showed I had a fracture. I had to have a cast that went up to my elbow and a sling. I thought I could still run with this and I went for a run the next day. It seemed fine, but it made me ache. Also the risk of falling made me think that wouldn't be good with my departure for NZ looming, so I decided I'd have to stop running. I'd have a month before the marathon once the cast came off and I thought maybe that'd be long enough to get back on track. I went for some four hour brisk walks to keep my stamina up but no more running. The cast came off last Tuesday. I went for a six mile run the day the cast came off and was fine. Yesterday I thought I'd see how far I could go. I felt knackered after 6 and pushed on to 11 miles. That made me realise that I am not going to be ready for 26 miles in 3 weeks time. So I am going to scale back to the half marathon.

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