Tom Dunn

Chatting with Jasmine

Sunday 28th Jul

I recently had the pleasure of speaking to Jasmine about her stroke, her recovery and her life now. As an active individual she described the surprise when one morning walking into work she suffered a stroke, a relatively minor clot, which unfortunately due to treatment complications developed into a more major injury. As she described the events, I was struck by how easy it could be to miss the early stages, and how important it is to be aware of stroke so you can act fast.

As Jasmine described the early stages of her recovery and her determination I couldn’t help but be inspired. She told me about setting herself a goal to be out of hospital for Christmas (which she achieved) and how at several stages she showed impressive mental strength to regain independence and overcome her fear. A particularly powerful moment was when she described singing it’s a small world to herself as she tackled her steep driveway alone or when she spoke of sitting down and challenging herself to pick up a penny with her affected arm.

Throughout it all she maintained infectious optimism, talking to her I could feel it, and yes she talked about how difficult it was but how with the support of her family she kept going and even saw the funny side of it sometimes. There was a funny anecdote she told of going to the spa and ending up stuck in a sliding door as it had closed on her touching her affected side and she couldn’t wriggle free.

It really was amazing to have the opportunity to talk to Jasmine and see her determination, positivity and problem solving. It made me want to double my efforts for this run.

Share

Longest run yet

Thursday 25th Jul Hit 8 miles yesterday on the chase and felt surprisingly good. Can think of better things to do for an hour but it feels good to know we can Share

Back out of the Saddle

Wednesday 8th May Very inconveniently my bike broke last week, poor me. On the plus side it got me thinking, no bike and the bus cost money what if I just run everywhere? So now I'm that guy... running to work, talking about how I run and generally being sweaty! It's been good for the training though yesterday I finished my longest run so far and I didn't feel too bad this time. This doesn't mean I like running would have rather done ANYTHING else with that hour. Share

Back in the Saddle

Tuesday 30th Apr The last couple of weeks I've had a very inconvenient bout of sickness while I start at my new jobs, so the running suffered. This week we're starting strong with a little run to work. Can't say it felt good I think I coughed up a lung, but it is good to be making progress again. Share

Country Rooooads

Wednesday 10th Apr I'm back home, for the week. Thought I'd dodged the rain, foot pics (enjoy) prove otherwise. Share

Here we go

Tuesday 9th Apr Got out for an easy run yesterday. That’s what the plan calls it at least, my legs felt like lead. Hopefully Wednesday will be feel better Share

What am I doing

Saturday 6th Apr It could have been worse, I just finished my first run. Only 6 and a bit km but it's a start. You might know I hate running, if you didn't before you do now and I hated that. But this is gonna be a journey and a challenge, and I love those. Share