Human Interest 2010 - Virgin London Marathon

Virgin London Marathon - Human Interest 2010
Ruth
Conquest
Leighton
Buzzard
37954
Ruth’s cousin, Naomi Thacker was diagnosed with AML in spring
2001 and passed away in the autumn. This is Ruth’s first ever
marathon. She was always the worst at PE in her school. Because
of that and other health issues, Ruth would never have dreamt
of taking part in a marathon. By the time Ruth runs the
marathon this April, it will be two years ago since she left her
wheelchair. She was previously unable to stand up without
suffering from seizures. The condition had come on suddenly
when she was at college. One day she suffered a seizure and
could not get up. Doctors could not diagnose her condition. She
had numerous tests, and was told it was something
psychological.
At first, Ruth had to learn to walk, hobbling a few paces across a
room leaning heavily on a zimmer frame. From there, she
progressed to using crutches, all the time wearing knee braces
with metal supports. Adopting a dog from an RSPCA centre was
her motivation to walk without crutches as her mother wouldn’t
allow her to have one until she could look after it herself. Then
she started learning to run last May. In order to train, she
approached the captain of her local athletic club, who offered to
help her on a one-to-one basis.
Clic Sargent