Grandma’s stroke inspires Dudley woman to run 5k

Halesowen resident and first time marathoner Amanda Nelson is raring to go as she makes her final preparations to take on the Birmingham Fun Run with her family for the Stroke Association.
Amanda Nelson, 29 is taking on the 3.1 mile challenge on Saturday 20 September in memory of her grandmother Dorothy Hawkes, who had a stroke 11 years ago when she underwent hip replacement surgery. Dorothy’s stroke left her paralysed on one side, with speech difficulties. She sadly passed away suddenly four months at the age of 91.
Amanda said: “When my Nan had her stroke, I seen how determined she would be each and every day to walk, talk and even write again. As a family we were all taken back by how adamant and strong minded our Nan would be each day. From day one she was determined to not let her stroke stop her from living her normal life again. Nan was determined that she would walk at my brothers wedding the following September after her stroke, and she did! This has inspired me and my family to put the same determination and will power into our efforts to raise awareness and vital funds for the Stroke Association, a charity who helps stroke survivors and their families. “
On the day, Amanda will be joined by Dorothy’s great granddaughter and grandson, Alisha (15) and Chris (25) Dalloway, her grandson’s wife, Louise Hawkes (36) and Andrea Waller (28), a close friend to the family. Dorothy was fondly known as ‘Doll’ by her grandchildren and so the family have dubbed their team name as ‘Running4Doll’, to have their Grandma’s thoughts at the forefront of the fun run.Amanda added: “Stroke had such a big impact on my Nan’s life, and it affected our whole family. We now want to raise as much as possible for the Stroke Association so they can continue to fight for stroke. Thankfully Chris Dalloway is a fitness expert, and he has helped us to breakthrough those days when it’s been really tough. Chris started his own Boot Camp session’s at G2 Fitness in Coseley which we all attended, as well as running at Himley Hall at the weekends - this has been a huge help in us preparing for the run. A challenge we have set ourselves each week is to complete a training regime which Chris created called the ‘Steps of Doom’, where we climb 98 steps several times over, something we definitely couldn’t do at the beginning of training! I think we’d all even go as far as saying that we’re now looking forward to the run!” 
Nancy Lillington, regional events manager at Stroke Association in the West Midlands, said: “There are around 152,000 strokes a year in the UK – that’s one every three and a half minutes. We’re a charity that relies on people like Amanda and family to raise funds so we can be there for families affected by stroke. We’ll be cheering the Running4Doll team on as they make their way passed the finish line.”