Corby woman fundraises for new racing wheelchair
A woman from Corby is raising money for a new wheelchair to help her compete in races.
Carole James is a member of Corby Athletics Club Wheelchair Racing Group and, in an effort to improve her experience of the activity she loves, she has started a fundraiser for a more suitable wheelchair.
After a car accident in 2007 Carole developed two neurological conditions, complex regional pain syndrome and functional neurological disorder.
These conditions caused her to need to use a wheelchair due to pain and weakness in both of her legs and the left-hand side of her body.
Carole first saw wheelchair racing at the Paralympics in 2012 and a couple of years later she saw an advert for a taster session at Corby Athletics Club.
After attending the first session of the wheelchair racing group Carole quickly realised that this was the sport for her.
Carole said: “Basically from that first session I was hooked because it gave me freedom where I could go fast when normally I couldn’t.
"I was the first person in the club and I’m still there all these years later.”
Carole purchased her first wheelchair in 2018 which she has been using since. However, after lots of adjustments to try and get her in the best position, she has been advised to get a new one to meet the changes in her conditions and enable her to keep improving her times and build up on her distances.
Carole said: “In the past year I have come on so much but I am hindered due to my current chair having wheels that are too big for me to get the full push to enable me to keep up with other athletes in events that I take part in.”
Carole has completed 10km races, a paratriathlon and has this year signed up for three half-marathons.
She also wants to take part in her first marathon next year having signed up for a couple of half-marathons this year. For this she is at a disadvantage with her current wheelchair as she is having to push double the amount of the other athletes, making her times slower than the others.
Disability sports can be expensive as the chairs must be measured for an individual's body shape and take into consideration the medical conditions which they suffer from.
Over the past six months Carole has been raising money for the new wheelchair which costs £5,000.
Thanks to the support from a running group in Northampton called Step Forward with Lewis, St John’s Church and a GoFundMe page she has managed to raise some of the money for the new chair but still has a fair amount left to go.
If you would like to donate to Carole, visit her GoFundMe page.