Woman Does Triathlon After Stroke

A 23 year old Hertfordshire woman is to run a triathlon to highlight the dangers of strokes, after suffering one herself.

Helen Kelly from Rickmansworth was out running when she suddenly felt very faint and felt like her muscles could no longer support her.

She assumed it was down to her not having had anything to eat - but in fact she was suffering a stroke.

A stroke is the rapid loss of brain function because of a disturbance to the blood supply to the brain - it can be caused by a clot or by an artery rupturing.

Helen says she sat down next to a canal. A number of people offered to help but she said she was fine - after sitting there for a while, she realised she wasn't. The next person who offered to help she gratefully accepted.

They called an ambulance and called her father.

Helen was taken to hospital where she was kept in for 3 weeks while she recovered - she then needed rehabilitation to regain her movement.

Now she's doing the triathlon to raise money for stroke related charlties that help people who've suffered a stroke at a young age.