Man who did not think he would walk again runs 10km

A man left paralysed along one side after having a stroke has completed his first 10km run - just eight months later.

Jake Waine, 29, from Eccleston, Lancashire, said his day began like any other day on 4 November when he went out to walk his dog and headed home for a lie down after beginning to "feel a little off".

When Jake went to get up, he discovered the left side of his body was paralysed. He had had a stroke and it would be six months before he would be able to walk again without an aid.

Eight months on, Jake has completed his first ever 10km (6.2 mile) run. "I didn't think I was going to walk or run ever again," he said. "The doctors were unsure. I did my first ever 10km run last week."

"There were no symptoms that morning," Jake said of the day he had his stroke. " I felt a little off when I was out, but then I felt fine again.

"A slight dizziness - nothing that major."

But Jake said when he settled down for a quick lie down at home, he was alarmed at his appearance in his phone's front camera.

"I noticed the left side of my face was drooped a bit," Jake recalled. "I tried to stand up and that's when my left side went completely paralysed.

"I fell to the floor and had to drag myself to the door to shout for help."

Jake, who lives with his parents, said luckily his dad had been at home.

"I live in the attic room," he explained. "There is a ladder but I couldn't get down.

"I couldn't move at all.

"Very luckily, my dad was in."

Paramedics diagnosed Jake with a stroke and too him to Royal Preston Hospital where he was given a thrombolytic medication to break down the clot.

Jake said while there was no guarantee of a full recovery, he became "determined to keep going".

"I took for granted the simple things, like cooking or making a cup of tea that were made 10 times harder with one hand," he said.

"At first I wasn't sure if I would regain feeling in my left side.

"The doctors and physios were unsure too.

"That just made me want to get it back more - I was pretty determined to keep going."

Jake spent several months having physiotherapy sessions before he was able to walk again without an aid.

"It was definitely difficult," he said. "I could walk, but only with a walking stick and an ankle support.

"I couldn't walk very far at all without feeling fatigued.

"But, after I left physio, I started doing exercises in the gym to regain muscle and neuroplasticity to help me move again."

He said as soon as he was able to walk, he began to train to run again, despite not having done any running since he was a teenager.

"I stopped doing exercise and stuff like that in my 20s and I had never done a 10k before," he said.

"But I put my mind to it and did it."

After months of leg exercises, interval training and road running, Jake finished the run with a time of one hour, 23 minutes and 41 seconds.

"I think it just proves to myself and anyone out there that's going through it that anything is possible," he said.

The majority of stroke cases occur in people aged 55 or over, according to Brain Research UK.

But despite being less likely, strokes can still affect younger people and even children.

Jake said while he recognised facial drooping as a stroke sign he had not expected to have a stroke at his age.

"I had a good idea it was a stroke," Jake said. "I just wasn't really expecting it because of my age.

"I knew that it could happen to people in their 20s and younger, but I wasn't expecting it to happen to me.

"It was definitely a shock."

Jake said since having a stroke, he has searched social media and found stories of many other young people who have experienced the same.

"That's when I found out, like, young babies could have it and young kids and it wasn't just older people," he said.

According to charity the Stroke Association, people are likely at a higher risk of a stroke if they who have a close relative who has had one.

"My grandmother and my great-uncle have both had strokes in the last two years.

"I didn't know before that it was something that could run in families."

Jake said his own experience has made him want to raise awareness of stroke signs and symptoms in young people.

"I did get shortness of breath quite often [before the stroke]," Jake said.

"Just from walking up the stairs I got shortness of breath.

"Looking back that was a sign of sticky blood."

Jake said if he had recognised his symptoms sooner he might have been prescribed blood thinners and could have avoided having a stroke.

"There is definitely a lack of awareness from younger people," he said.

"What I'm trying to do through charity and telling my story is raise awareness."

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.