Kettering woman tackles marathon 10 years after ICU stay left her unable to walk across ward

Ten years after she battled kidney failure in intensive care that left her too weak to walk more than a few steps, a Kettering 23-year-old will take on the gruelling London Marathon.

Gemma Morris was just 13 when she was blue-lighted to hospital after falling gravely ill with Lupus Nephritis, an auto-immune condition, that nearly shut down her kidneys.

Thanks to regular dialysis and and a six-week stay in Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical Centre, Gemma has made a full recovery living a ‘normal’ life taking regular medication.

A decade on, Gemma and her dad Steve, 54, will take on the 26.2-mile challenge to raise awareness and funds for charity Lupus UK.

Gemma said: “At the time I didn’t really know how serious it was. I was so poorly I couldn’t walk to the end of the room. It was a scary time.

"I want to show that you can do anything if you put your mind to it. I want to support people with the condition – to raise awareness and as much money as possible for research.”

It was in 2014, when Gemma was 13-years-old, she started to feel incredibly unwell. She had a ‘strange’ pain in her left leg and an ‘awful’ ache in her neck. Initially her doctor said it was probably just ‘growing pains’ and there was nothing to worry about.

But after a week, Gemma was feeling worse so her mum Tracy took her to the out-of-hours service. Gemma’s condition was deteriorating rapidly and from A&E in Kettering, she was rushed by ambulance to intensive care in Nottingham.

Diagnostic tests revealed Lupus Nephritis. For three months, mum Tracy and dad Steve juggled visits to Nottingham and Gemma’s siblings, Hannah and Joe. Medication made Gemma lose her hair.

She said: “For a 13-year-old girl you can imagine wasn’t easy to process. It also made me incredibly weak and even walking from one end of the room to the other was a challenge.”

Inspired by company director Steve, who ran the London Marathon for Lupus UK in 2015, Gemma will be supported every step of the way with her dad at her side.

The pair have been preparing for the event for the past 31 weeks with regular runs together as well as hitting the gym.

Steve said: “To be able to run with her is amazing, she is inspirational. She has to take her daily medication to control the disease but it doesn’t hold her back. Gemma was the reason I started to run in the first place.

"She’s incredibly positive. I’m really proud of her – more than I can say.”

Gemma and Steve have set a fundraising target of £5,000 and would like to finish within six hours.

She said: “I am going to do it. I’ve had a few set backs with my knee but I keep saying ‘I can do this’.”

Family and friends will be travelling down to London to see the pair cross the finishing line.

Steve added: “I’d like to thank everyone who has supported us. A donation of any kind would be greatly appreciated.”

To support Gemma and Steve go to https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/gemmaandsteve-london24.

For more information on Lupus go to https://lupusuk.org.uk/