Northampton man who suffered three prolapsed discs and nerve damage to take part in half marathon

A former Northampton teacher is set to walk a 13-mile circuit around Northampton to raise money for cancer after he suffered three prolapsed discs in his back and nerve damage.

Kev Brown, 52, of Danefield is taking part in a sponsored Half Marathon Nordic Walk on Saturday, September 2, departing from the Drovers Return Cafe in West Hunsbury to raise £250 for Prostate Cancer UK.

Back in 2011 Kev had an accident at work while he was a teacher at a secondary school in Northampton, leaving him with three prolapsed discs in his back and severe nerve damage.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He was left in a vulnerable position both physically and financially and gave up work due to severe pain and decreased mobility.

He said: "I tried every bit of physio you could imagine, as well as a lumbar puncher and facet joint injections to try to ease the pain - I've had acupuncture, every tablet and pain-killer the NHS could give me and still I was unable to take more than five steps without falling to the floor in agony.

"I was at my last resort option, which was to remove the discs and fuse my spine together as nothing else had worked but my wife was worried as the doctors had only given me a 50-50 chance that I wouldn't end up in a wheelchair and even if it did work I would never be able to bend or pick up anything from the floor again.

"I decided I needed time to think it through when I got talking to a lady who had taken up Nordic Walking and she told me how it had helped her with her bad back so to cut a long story short I borrowed some poles and tried it."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Kev said it was difficult at first but over three months he went from taking 10 steps to walking a couple of miles.

After persevering with the ongoing pain, he started to see great results not only physically but mentally too as he was sleeping more and feeling less depressed.

Kev has now trained as an instructor with British Nordic Walking so he can pass on advice about the activity to others who might have suffered like him.

He added: "In 18 months I have lost over 5st and have stopped 95 per cent of my medication, I can walk 15 miles in one go and feel amazing in myself being able to offer this to so many others.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"I still have bad days and my back will never be better as the damage is irreparable but Nordic Walking has given me my life back and has made me stronger in both mind and body to take on anything this world can throw at me."