{"id":4149,"date":"2018-05-25T11:02:17","date_gmt":"2018-05-25T11:02:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/club.runthrough.co.uk\/?p=4149"},"modified":"2021-07-16T03:35:47","modified_gmt":"2021-07-16T03:35:47","slug":"runner-feature-helen-doyle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/club.runthrough.co.uk\/runner-feature-helen-doyle\/","title":{"rendered":"Runner Feature – Helen Doyle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
When I was told I had a hole in my heart at age 21<\/strong>, that was just the beginning of what would end up being a journey that has completely changed my life. In the two years following my diagnosis, my health continued to deteriorate and I ended up needing open heart surgery<\/strong> at the Royal Brompton Hospital on January 29th 2015, aged 23<\/strong>. Not realising how unwell I was, I had ambitiously signed up and gained a ballot entry place into the London Marathon<\/strong> exactly a week before I was told this – which they then said would be risking my life to even attempt! So I withdrew and deferred my place from the marathon and life was put on hold while I waited to have surgery.<\/p>\n After heart surgery I had to learn to breathe, walk and talk again after having my sternum cut in half, I couldn’t even sit up by myself for the first few months and it took a year for me to recover. With support from my family, friends and Cardiac Athletes community<\/strong> alongside help from my local cardiac rehab, I gradually started running again and signed back up to the London Marathon, even though at this point I could only run for 10 seconds at a time.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n During my recovery I discovered RunThrough<\/strong>, where my Dad and I took part in several 10k races to mark my post-op progress and to help me train for the marathon. We used the run\/walk\/run approach with interval timing which was helpful at keeping a good pace and not overdoing it as it was pretty nerve wracking allowing my pulse to increase too much after major heart surgery. We completed RunThrough’s Wimbledon Common half marathon<\/strong> in March 2016<\/strong>, my Dad’s first half marathon<\/strong><\/a> in over 30 years and my first ever half! In April 2016 I managed to run the London Marathon in 5 hours 32 mins<\/strong> for the Royal Brompton<\/strong> and I loved every single minute of it – I finally knew what it felt like to run with a ‘normal heart’ and it is still to this day one of my proudest achievements<\/em>.<\/p>\n Sadly, the marathon high didn’t last long as within a few months I started struggling to walk. I put this down to running, as leg cramps on exertion were (I thought<\/em>) common signs of pulled muscles. However, the cramping never went away and I was promptly sent by my doctor to King’s College Hospital<\/strong> where I was immediately admitted. I had suffered an ‘embolic shower’<\/strong> and was diagnosed with a very serious limb-threatening condition called Acute Limb Ischaemia<\/strong>, where my heart had pumped out blood clots around my body that had damaged several organs and blocked the main arteries in both of my legs.<\/p>\n From that moment things spiralled into what would end up being the worst few weeks of my life – 4 emergency surgeries, 5 days in Critical Care<\/strong>, learning to walk again, and then being sent home after 19 days with a walking stick, a sack of horrible medication, more outpatient appointments than I could count and a feeling of despair that my life would never be the same again.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When I was in hospital I made a promise to my nurses that I would run a 10k race<\/strong><\/a> to raise money and thank them for looking after me, as at that point running a 10k was the equivalent of running a marathon when my legs were numb, dead weights that I couldn’t move without dragging off my bed. That promise became my motivation throughout my entire recovery, and after a LOT of hard work I finally ran my first post-op 10k on a beautiful sunny day at Greenwich Park<\/strong> with RunThrough in April 2017<\/strong>, just 4 months after leaving hospital.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I must admit the mental recovery has been far tougher than the physical recovery and it is still something I struggle to come to terms with. As it did after heart surgery, running has helped me clear my mind on bad days<\/em>, even though I am constantly reminded of what I have been through by the physical challenges I face when I run (such as the painful aches of damaged arteries and my legs feeling like they are filled with cement<\/em>). However, being outside and still ABLE<\/strong> to run, no matter how slowly, fills me with gratitude – I am still here, with both of my legs and a patched up heart, and I’m not going to give up any time soon!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n