British woman with returns to Abu Dhabi to race in triathlon
▶ Louise Grace says competing in event again ‘closes first chapter’ of illness
A woman who competed in a triathlon in Abu Dhabi days after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis has returned to the capital to take part in the event again and move forward with her life.
Louise Grace, from the UK, began to feel unwell shortly after Christmas in 2016, at first feeling weak and shaky, like she had the flu.
But her condition later deteriorated to the point that she could no longer walk.
She went to hospital, where doctors told her that she may have suffered a stroke.
She spent 10 days in hospital where she underwent a battery of tests before being told at discharge she was probably suffering from MS.
It is an unpredictable, often disabling, degenerative disease that damages the nervous system, disrupting communication between the brain and the rest of body.
The diagnosis of relapsing remitting MS, where symptoms wax and wane, was confirmed nine weeks later, only two days after she boarded a plane to Abu Dhabi to take part in the ITU World Triathlon Series.
Ms Grace had completed five or six triathlons by that point, having first taken up running in 2012.
“I had read about Couch to 5K [a nine-week running programme]. I thought I would give that a go. The first triathlon I did was in 2014,” she said.
Many people assumed the MS diagnosis would bring an end to her triathlon career.
“Everyone said you can’t do the triathlon now, obviously. So I didn’t tell anyone I was coming out to compete,” said Ms Grace, a mother of three.
“Because my dad lived out here at the time – he is retired now – I said I was going to go and see my dad. They said, ‘that’s very sensible’.
“So I quietly took my bike and all my gear, and I didn’t tell anyone until after I had finished the race.”
Ms Grace had not recovered fully from the attack and her right leg was still weak, giving her a “wonky walk”. She had not run since becoming ill.
“It was very hard. I would have wanted to do it faster. It wasn’t very pretty,” she said.
“But it was possibly the best finish I have done. It was the best medal I have earned.”
She has competed in two triathlons since then, both close to her home town, Southend in Essex.
Ms Grace said her health had been “up and down” and she underwent some quite intense treatment.
But on Friday, she was set to take part in the Daman World Triathlon Abu Dhabi.
“I am probably in worse condition this time than I was when I came out the first time,” Ms Grace said.
“I had treatment again in December that was quite hard going. But coming back feels like coming full circle since the beginning of my illness.
“It closes that beginning chapter maybe, so I can go forward with maybe living with it rather than coping with the diagnosis.”