Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Hello, I'm Lauren and I am asking for your help for an amazing charity who believe in life after stroke. Whether that be through donating, sharing this page or just reading it's all appreciated. I am doing 2 events this year and hoping to do even more. On August 19th I am part of a celebrity team doing the open water swim part of a sprint triathlon. Having never swam open water and not being a particularly strong swimmer this is a huge challenge for me. However, being selected is a huge privilege and I will be doing the event with Ali Jawad (Paralympic silver medalist) and another superhero chosen. Then in October I am doing the Bright10 10 mile run. I have ran 2 10km races for The Stroke Association in the past but wanted something a bit more of a challenge so went for a slightly longer run. 

In 2012 I suffered a stroke which initially left me paralysed down my left side. After several months in hospital and being told that I may never walk again I proved everyone wrong and left walking. It was after this I was diagnosed with Behçet's disease. Behçet's is a very rare autoimmune disease causing a range of symptoms caused by inflammation of blood vessels leading to daily chronic pain but this is usually manageable and mostly I can lead a normal active life.

Some may ask why I can do this one month and then be in hospital using a wheelchair the next. The answer is this is the joys of an unpredictable and rare autoimmune disease with little research. Often this leads to hospital admission due to the pain being so extreme that I can hardly move leading to being unable to walk and do much without assistance due to the excruciating pain. I then have to go through extensive physio with an awful lot of patience.

I have recently had to buy my own wheelchair and now am officially classed as being 'disabled'. This in itself is hard to deal with but I am learning to use this as another challenge to make me a stronger person. 

This does mean that training and doing these events is even harder as I have to consider my health and not overdoing things. 

I have some amazing support from my friends, family and girlfriend and really appreciate what everyone does. If you are able to help financially or even spread my story that would be incredible. I am not setting up this page purely to raise money but I want to raise awareness that a stroke can happen to anyone at any age. I also want to make people more aware of invisible illnesses and how someone may look well on the outside but on the inside they may be struggling. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this 

Lauren x

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.