Mum runs Virtual London Marathon after Covid-19 left her bedridden
A Shropshire runner left bedridden for weeks with Covid-19 has signed up to run the Virtual London Marathon in support of Hope House Children’s Hospice.
Mum-of-two Amanda Lawrence started getting symptoms during April while the country was in full lockdown.
“It started as a headache, then pretty quickly progressed to a high temperature, chills and a cough,” said Amanda, 46.
“I really couldn’t breathe particularly well, which was a little concerning. What I really remember though is feeling very low as I was kept isolated to just my bedroom, away from the rest of the family for two weeks and didn’t see anybody, which was pretty tough.”
Amanda, who lives in Trefonen with her husband John and two teenage children Jack and Olivia, is a keen runner and a member of Girls on the Run running group, regularly running distances of 5K and 10K, and completing half marathons.
“Since having Covid I’ve noticed that my lungs aren’t quite the same and I really had to go back to the start, running for five minutes then taking a break,” she said.
But over the weeks and months Amanda has been getting stronger and when she and her friend Wendy found out about the Virtual London Marathon they decided they would take on the challenge.
“I chose to run the marathon for Hope House as it is a special local charity and I have friends who work there, and another friend and her teenage boy used the services there a few years ago,” said Amanda.
Both Amanda and Wendy will be running the marathon along with thousands of others on Sunday, October 4, and they have calculated a route which runs from St Martins to Trefonen, going via Morda, West Felton, Oswestry and Whittington.
Amanda is one of 10 runners taking on the challenge in support of Hope House.
Fundraiser Lynsey Kilvert said: “We need to raise in excess of £6m a year to support all the children and families we help from across North Wales, Shropshire and parts of Cheshire.
“We are so grateful to all our runners taking on the Virtual London Marathon to support us. We wish Amanda the best of luck, running a marathon after her experience is quite remarkable.”
If you would like to support Amanda click here to donate.
