Truly Inspirational

Mark Bailey - Read his inspirational story below. Somethings just won't wait. Last night Victoria Jeffs sent me a report on the latest Couch to 5k group's graduation, together with an inspirational report by Mark Bailey on his journey from operating theatre to 5k. Mark has very kindly agreed to let me share this with you. I had initially planned to include it in the normal newsletter at the end of the week but decided to send it out separately. For anyone who doubts the redemptive power of sport, for anyone who doubts the healing power of sport, for anyone who doubts the very special and supportive nature of our club, they will, I'm sure, be comforted by Mark's story As somebody once said : If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds' worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it. A big congratulations to all of the other members of the latest C25k group, all of who will have their own tale to tell. Don't worry, there'll be no shortage of stuff to fill the week's normal newsletter later in the week. There will be reports on the Marathon des Sables plus a 107 mile Ultra in Ireland, the Manchester Marathon, Solihull Half and lots of you competing in the Regency 10k. Best Wishes David Jones. The latest Couch to 5k group graduate at the parkrun, alongside Victoria Jeffs and Rob Minton, far left. Couch to 5k Group and Mark's Story. Victoria Jeffs and Mark Bailey. A merry band of 27 started the latest C25k programme back in February which culminated on Saturday 6th April with them graduating by completing a parkrun. All of them did fantastically well and with ages ranging from 28 through to 77, it was certainly a diverse group. Once again abilities were wide and varied with the fastest finisher completing parkrun in 25 minutes and the slowest taking nearer 50 minutes and everything in between. One member of the group, Mark Bailey, shares his own personal story below: Mark's Story. “On December 7th 2017 I was on the M6 driving home from working in Birmingham when a lorry overtook and then turned into me, causing my car to go into a spin and do three revolutions, crossing all the lanes. I ended up colliding with the central reservation. I was taken to Heartlands hospital with a suspected broken shoulder. After a scan, the main injury turned out to be a ruptured diaphragm with a diaphragmatic hernia. I had to be resuscitated in A&E. Not that I knew anything about it. Basically, on impact my insides carried on moving and my stomach went through the diaphragm and into my left lung. Luckily It was acting like a cork so I didn't suffer with much internal bleeding but I had lost 25 % lung capacity . The doctors were reluctant to operate straight away as there was a lot of other trauma in my body at the time, so…