Last year was to be my last marathon as my foot just gets more painful with the miles but I am determined to run this one last time for my wonderful mum and solely for The Stroke Association.

In October 2018, in the blink of an eye my life, and more importantly my parents' lives were changed forever.  On Monday 22nd October 2018 my mum suffered a stroke which completely changed all our lives.

Mum was completely paralysed on her right side, she had no body strength and was unable to get out of bed without the assistance of a hoist.  She could not walk or eat normally and her life was dependent completely on my dad who is 86 years old and he cared for mum 7 days a week, 24 hours per day - he was and is amazing.

Due to the Stroke mum had carers 4 times per day.  Towards the end of April mum was taken into hospital as she had become very unwell, was not eating and was very weak.

After a week in hospital mum passed away on 1st May 2020 ....

Somewhere in my heart beneath all my grief and pain,
Is a smile I still wear at the sound of her dear name.
The precious word is ‘mum’, she was my world you see,
But now my heart is breaking cause she’s no longer here with me.
She is now with the angels to watch me from above.
To guide me and advise me and know that I’m still loved.
When I think of her kind heart and all those loving years,
my memories surround me and I can’t hold back the tears.
She truly was my best friend, someone I could confide in,
she always had a tender touch and a warm and gentle grin.
I want to thank you Mum for teaching me so well,
and though the time has come that we are no longer together, 
I’ll remember all you’ve taught me and make you proud you’ll see.
Thank you my dear Mum for all the love you showed me.
Although you’ve left this earth and no longer in my sight, 
I know that you are here with me each morning, noon and night.

Some things I never knew before ....

There are more than 100,000 strokes in the UK each year, that is around one stroke every five minutes.  There are over 1.2 million stroke survivors in the UK.  Every two seconds someone in the world will have a stroke.  Stroke is the fourth biggest killer in the UK.  More than 400 children have a stroke every year in the UK.

The Stroke Association delivers amazing, life-changing support to over 70,000 stroke survivors and their families each year. Without supporters like you they could not provide the support and research that they do. Your donations are so important to rebuilding lives after stroke.

Where your money goes:

£80 could allow a a stroke survivor to attend a six week communication computer course
£199 could pay for one hour of Helpline activity
£310 could pay for the initial training and expenses of a befriending volunteer
£1,685 could pay for a fitness coach to provide stroke specific exercise rehabilitation
£40,000 funds a Lectureship Award for stroke doctor, nurse, therapist or scientist for a year
£450,000 fully funds a Priority Programme Award in haemorrhagic stroke, vascular dementia and stroke, or the psychological and cognitive impact of stroke, which would run over the course of 5 years

This is why we need to raise money for this fantastic charity, my eyes were completely opened when mum was taken ill and awareness is key.  We always think it is older people who suffer stroke but since my mum I have read so many stories from people of all ages and it has completely changed their lives.

Thank you for reading, I hope you can donate to my page.