A PARK ranger who was paralysed sud- denly by a disorder attacking her nervous system was honoured by two members of Stafford Borough Council’s Street Scene team who ran in her name at this year’s Stafford Half Marathon.
John Scott and Chris Brown ran to raise awareness of Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS), with which John’s fiancee Sally Haycock was diagnosed earlier this year.
Sally was originally set to run the marathon but was hospitalised in January - and the couple’s friend and colleague Chris stepped up to run in her place.
Sally’s mum Jenny Haycock told the Newsletter how shocking the effects of the disease had been on her daughter, a familiar face to visitors to Stonefield Park in Stone, and Rowley Park and Victoria Park in Stafford.
People can donate at www.justgiving. com/Sally-Haycock.
The marathon proved to be a family affair for siblings Robin, Alex and Bethan Parker who raised cash for the Rosie’s Rainbow charity, which helped Robin’s daughter Seren, born in May last year with a hole in her heart.
She had surgery at Southampton and two bowel operations at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.
Rosie’s Rainbow is based at John Radcliffe and provides music therapy for children in hospital, research into childhood diseases and support for families.
Robin is a former Stafford resident and the only runner in the family so the marathon was a bigger challenge for brother Alex, who plays rugby for Eccleshall, and Bethan.
But the trio overcame the odds and crossed the finishing line, as well as achieving their £1,000 fund-raising target.
Former firefighter Neal Evans, who had to learn to walk again after suffering a serious head injury, crossed the finish line in well under two hours, cheered on by his wife and three sons as he aimed to raise money for the Headway charity.
Mr Evans was left in a coma for four days and temporarily paralysed down one leg after falling from a roof at his Highfield Grove home almost five years ago.
He wanted to get back to running - but as he had to learn to walk again it seemed a distant dream.
But he completed the run in one hour, 48 minutes, achieving his target of under two hours for the race.
He said: “I want to thank all the friends and old work colleagues along the course who gave me a shout.”
Stafford mum Fi Star-Stone, who tweeted through childbirth, took to Twitter again to share her assault on the Stafford Half Marathon.
The mum-of-two and Vicki Watkiss-Middleton were raising cash for Spina Bifida, Hydrocephalus and the impor-tance of taking folic acid before and during pregnancy.
“Running a half marathon is no easy task, if anyone tells you it is, they haven’t done it,” she said.
“Running a half marathon and tweeting your way around? Well let’s just say I think my Twitterbirth was easier.”
She said every painful step was forgotten when she was greeted at the end by Noah, a baby boy born with spina bifida and a variety of complications, and who has been the focus of Fi’s fund-raising efforts since she first came into contact with him and his family.
