When Angel James was told she was quadriplegic after suffering a sudden and unprecedented stroke at the age of 19, she thought her world had come to a grinding halt.
But not so, for the truly inspirational Port Macquarie woman.
Angel, now 21, is ready to set the pace in a four-kilometre fun run in a few weeks’ time to raise awareness and support for people with a disability through her self inspired website www.inbetweenstrength.com.
But only after years of sometimes agonising rehabilitation and true grit determination to build up her strength to do so.
On April 10, 2009 Angel, then 19, suffered a severe stroke “as a result of taking the [contraceptive] pill and a gene mutation”.
The chronic attack left her quadriplegic and the whole right side of her body paralysed.
But, after two months of intense rehabilitation, with her boyfriend Scott Dixon, 23, and her family by her side, Angel was able to walk again — albeit only slow and steady steps, but she was back on her feet.
Angel, who featured on the front page of the Port Macquarie Independent newspaper late in 2009 when she launched her website, said inner strength has been her ultimate companion during the recovery process.
And here she is, more than two years on, ready to hit the pavement in the Sydney Running Festival 4km Family Fun Run on September 18.
The brave, motivated and positively bubbling Angel has worked tirelessly through an ongoing rehabilitation program to be ready.
“Last year I even learnt to run again, which was amazing for me,” she said.
It’s not the first time Angel has put her best foot forward to raise awareness and a support network for others.
She participated in the Fun Run last year, raising monies for Walk On.
“I was in absolute agony but I ran the last 100 metres,” Angel said.
“Who knows what I can do this year.
“But this year I am doing the same thing [raising awareness] only for my organisation www.inbetweenstrength.com.
“I am still waiting on my charity licence for In Between Strength to be finalised so I can’t collect monetary donations, but I have come up with the idea of an exercise donation.
“You can donate your daily exercise time to those whose daily exercise is not to lose weight or gain muscle size, it is simply to live.
“So far we have 300 hours’ worth of donations.
“In Between Strength is here to make life more accessible for people with paralysis and their friends and family.”
Angel said she had been working tirelessly getting ready for the event but also working on her blog on a daily-plus basis documenting her mental and physical preparations.
You can read her inspirational journey at www.inbetweenstrength.com.
Email angel@inbetweenstrength.com if you would like to share your best wishes for her race, or your story, with Angel.
So, too, you can donate your exercise time to Angel’s wonderful cause at the site.
Angel’s Fun Run experience will feature in the Port Macquarie Independent after the event.
Watch this space…
