MS sufferer Paul training for marathon challenge
A disabled man who was partially blind for a year and struggles to move has started walking half-marathons with the hope of taking on the London Marathon next year.
Paul Jenkins, 44, has multiple sclerosis (MS).
Four years ago, when he was a passenger in his now ex-wife’s car, his life changed unexpectedly. He said: “All of a sudden I said ‘I can’t see’. It just went. It was obviously very scary.”
He spent several days at Ashford’s William Harvey Hospital and after a couple of weeks the sight in his left eye returned but he was blind in his right eye for a year, which he described as “daunting.”
Mr Jenkins was given guide dog Buddy, a long-haired golden retriever, who saved his owner’s life during the 12 months he was with him.
“I went up to the kerb and couldn’t see or hear anything so started to cross but Buddy cut across me and stopped me walking,” he said. “An electric car was coming from my righthand side.”
The father of one, of St Philip’s Avenue, Maidstone, who was diagnosed with MS 14 years ago, walks with sticks or a frame and has a wheelchair for bad days.
The MS gives him almost constant pins and needles and a numbness where he sometimes can’t feel his limbs.
Mr Jenkins was also unable to work and was diagnosed with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) from a car accident 25 years ago, and his marriage broke up.
But inspired by Paralympic ath- letes such as gold medal-winning wheelchair racer David Weir, he changed his outlook.
“I used to see my MS as something intruding in my body but now I work with it, it’s my friend. If it flares up it’s my friend telling me to slow down for a bit and rest.
“I didn’t want obstacles in my life so I started training to walk half-marathons.”
Mr Jenkins, who now works in Kent County Council’s contact centre, joined the gym at Maidstone Leisure Centre and completed the Canterbury half- marathon on Monday in four hours, seven minutes.
He is preparing for the Maidstone half-marathon in October and has applied for a place in next year’s London Marathon.
He said: “MS isn’t the end of your life, it’s just a different approach to it.”