Story
I am running the London Marathon 2017 for The Stroke Association.
Anyone who knows me knows I am not a natural runner, therefore this challenge is a big one for me. However I am determined to complete the London Marathon and raise the £2000 I have pledged to the Stroke Association (hopefully more!).
I have seen how stroke can seriously alter someone's life. My aunt suffered a severe stroke in May 2015. As I was living with her at the time I saw first-hand the devastating effect Stroke has had on both her and her family, therefore I wanted to do something big to raise money and awareness.
I know that any pain, frustration and difficulty I face in training for and running the marathon is nothing compared to what those affected by stroke go through.
I know that any pain, frustration and difficulty I face in training for and running the marathon is nothing compared to what those affected by stroke go through.
Here are some frightening statistics from The Stroke Association's Website:
- Stroke occurs approximately 152,000 times a year in the UK; that is one every 3 minutes 27 seconds.
- First-time incidence of stroke occurs almost 17 million times a year worldwide; one every two seconds.
- There are over 1.2 million stroke survivors in the UK.
- 3 in 10 stroke survivors will go on to have a recurrent stroke or TIA.
- 1 in 8 strokes are fatal within the first 30 days.
- 1 in 4 strokes are fatal within a year.
- Stroke is the fourth single largest cause of death in the UK and second in the world.
- By the age of 75, 1 in 5 women and 1 in 6 men will have a stroke.
- Stroke kills twice as many women as breast cancer and more
men than prostate and testicular cancer combined a year. - Black people are twice as likely to have a stroke compared to
white people. - Black and South Asian people have strokes at a younger age
compared to white people. - Stroke is one of the largest causes of disability – half of all
stroke survivors have a disability. - Over a third of stroke survivors in the UK are dependent on
others, of those 1 in 5 are cared for by family and/or friends. - For every cancer patient living in the UK, £241 is spent each
year on medical research, compared with just £48 a year for
every stroke patient.
The money that I raise for The Stroke Association will go towards supporting stroke survivors to make the best recovery they can.
It will also go towards campaigning for better stroke care and funding research into finding new treatments
and ways of preventing stroke.
For more information about The Stroke Association please visit their website: www.stroke.org.uk
If you would like to follow my trainining journey, I have a blog you can follow: https://katierunssite.wordpress.com/
So please, please donate what you can to support this very important cause.