A THRILL-SEEKING Leamington woman did not let a broken ankle stop her from completing her 23rd Wolf Run in five years.
Emma Tysoe was rock climbing in June when she fell and broke her ankle, leaving her bed-bound in hospital for a week awaiting surgery to insert screws into her foot.
But despite spending the next three weeks on the sofa recovering, Emma was determined to complete the 10km Wolf Run wild running course in September.
After speaking to a friend who is an amputee she decided to buy a hands-free crutch which allows people with lower leg injuries to support themselves on their knee.
The 43-year-old said: “I tried crutches but kept falling over and injuring myself. I became too scared to move, so I literally just stayed on the sofa every day. I got so depressed that I couldn’t do anything – I was in a big, black hole. I had ten weeks with my leg in a cast ahead of me, followed by several more weeks wearing a special boot, and time has never moved more slowly. I just couldn’t get my positivity back.
“A friend of mine is an amputee and he’s used the specialist crutch before. I decided to buy one and it completely changed my recovery. I could live my life again. I could move around the house, help my husband in the kitchen and start getting out and about again.
“If you complete four Wolf Runs in a year you get ‘Alpha Wolf’ status.This year was going to be my fifth in a row as an Alpha Wolf and I was really upset I’d lose my status. I was telling my friend that I was going to cancel, and he persuaded me to give it a go. Having something to aim for really kept me going.”
Emma has not missed the event since 2014 and says though it was her toughest yet, hearing friends and family cheering her on gave her the boost she needed to complete the course.
She added: “I loved it, we had such a good laugh. I brought a speaker with me so we could listen to music as I knew it would take a while to get round. It was hard going uphill and navigating ropes but I just kept going.
“I’m so glad I did it. It was an amazing day and I had an incredible sense of achievement.”
