Stroke survivor Chloe out to prove a point at Cambridge Half Marathon
Chloe Hodgkisson is set to run the course after suffering a stroke in 2024
A mum-of-two who survived a stroke hopes she prove a point at this year's Cambridge Half Marathon.
Chloe Hodgkisson will set off on the 13.1-mile course today (Sunday) to raise funds for the Stroke Association charity.
"I just couldn't believe it; I had to walk again," she said.
"It felt like someone had smashed me on the back of the head with a baseball bat; it was so painful."
Chloe was 37 when she woke up feeling unwell in a hotel room with her husband and two children in Oxford in May 2024.
She began to feel dizzy and sick before losing her speech and having facial dropping, as she tried to shield her children from seeing her symptoms.
"They were huddled behind the hotel room door while the paramedics strapped me into a chair," Chloe said.
"I remember them looking scared and confused, and it broke my heart that I couldn’t comfort them or explain what was happening.”
'For a long time, I felt helpless'
Chloe underwent emergency surgery at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford to remove a blood clot from her brain and was left feeling anxiety, chronic headaches and severe post-stroke fatigue having initially recovered.
Doctors later discovered that Chloe has a patent foramen ovale (PFO), often described as a hole in the heart, which allowed a blood clot to travel to her brain.
“For a long time, I felt helpless; I couldn’t be the mum I was before; I couldn’t play football, I couldn’t do the school run, and some days I barely had the energy to get through the day," Chloe said.
"They were seven and five when it happened, so I want to say to them that I am and have got better; I can kick a football around with them and I'm raising money and awareness for others that are possibly going through the same thing."
Chloe - who will be running as part of a fundraising team - is raising money to support stroke survivors and their families across the UK.
Organisers say around 15,000 runners are expected to take part in this year's Cambridge Half Marathon.
Ahead of the event, she already completed a 60-mile Run/Walk for Stroke challenge and has signed up for further events, including a 50km ultra challenge trek in June this year.
"Mentally and physically, you're struggling and you're trying to get your life back on track again, so I want to turn it into a positive and say 'this is an awful thing that's happened, but I have got better'," Chloe added.
"I'm not rocking up not being prepared, and luckily I have recovered from the stroke.
"I was fit and energetic before the stroke and I've got that back; it's taken a long time, but luckily I've got that back."
Firefighter ready for 20kg full kit run
Some runners could also be taking to fancy dress or run the Cambridge Half Marathon in a different way than usual.
Station Commander Rob Foreman, from Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service, is set to run this event for the eighth year in a row, but this time, in full firefighter kit for Magpas Air Ambulance charity.
"I am a little nervous, but preparation's been good; I've been training quite hard since the turn of the year, running with a weighted vest and gradually building up," Rob said.
"This challenge is definitely going to be one of the hardest I've done physically, so it's going to be a case of being mentally strong and resilient."