​Kexborough mother-of-four goes the extra mile for the Stroke Association

A mother-of-four from Barnsley is taking on the Simplyhealth Great North Run on Sunday for the Stroke Association, after her daughter had a stroke on her fourth birthday.

Joanne Howard-Coles, 37, from Kexborough, was inspired to raise vital funds for the charity after her daughter Taymika had a stroke in March 2014. She had been celebrating at her birthday party, before collapsing at home that night. Joanne was 38 weeks pregnant with her fourth child at the time.

Joanne said: “Taymika has been prescribed penicillin before she collapsed, and when I searched online I found it can cause numbness, so we assumed it was this and went to bed. However, the next morning Taymika couldn’t walk, talk, or move her left side and her face had dropped. We took her to A&E thinking it was a reaction to the penicillin and a CT scan didn’t find anything. She was then taken to Sheffield Hospital where an MRI scan confirmed she had had a stroke caused by a clot on her brain.”

Taymika is now seven years old and has made a good recovery, returning to Kexborough Primary School. However her parents are noticing the effects of stroke as time goes on. She now has memory and visual perception problems.

Joanne added: “Taymika made an excellent recovery and was on her feet and walking quickly. She’s a miracle. However, over the last year we have noticed she has been struggling at school.

“I only started running last year when I started Walk to Run sessions, and have done a few 10k races since. My friend Lizzy Bower is taking part in the Great North Run with me, so we’ve been training together and are both members of Kingstone Running Club. It’s been a long journey and I want to raise awareness that children can have strokes too, as well as raising vital funds for other families affected by stroke. It’s only now that I look back and can’t believe we got through everything.”

Dave Shearer, Events Officer at the Stroke Association, said: “With more than 100,000 strokes in the UK each year, it’s vital that we have people like Joanne to help raise funds. We’re incredibly grateful to her for supporting the Stroke Association at the Great North Run.

“The money raised will go a long way in helping to support people who are living with the effects of stroke and their families and carers, as well as help to prevent people from having a stroke.We look forward to cheering her on as she speeds from Newcastle to South Shields.”

It’s not too late to sponsor Joanne, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/pediatricstroke