Woman takes on Oysho Cardiff Half Marathon after relearning to walk
A healthcare support worker from Bridgend took on the Oysho Cardiff Half Marathon after she had to relearn to write and walk.
Rhiannon Bending had originally had her sights on taking part in the 2024 Cardiff Half but had to miss the race last year after a multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis turned her life upside down.
Now through all her hard work and determination she’s defied expectations and completed the half marathon that she missed.
The 36-year-old said: “I first started feeling unwell in July 2024. I thought I had bad sinusitis. My face felt really heavy and I felt very dizzy and unwell. Then one day, I was at home and I experienced a thunderclap headache and collapsed. I lost use of the left side of myself and thought I was having a stroke.”
Rhiannon’s mum was home at the time and drover her straight to The Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend.
Rhiannon said she couldn’t walk, couldn’t see and couldn’t hear. Scans showed she had lesions on her brain, but she said she was ‘too out of it to care’ although later on it was something she came to worry about.
She’d gone from running and training for the Cardiff Half Marathon every day to not being able to walk for months.
She spent eight days in hospital and then continued to go back and forth for tests.
Rhiannon said: “I had a physio and they’d hold me up and I’d sit at the edge of the bed. Some days all I could do was wiggle my toes, but my legs felt like cement.
“As I’m left-handed I also needed to relearn how to write and hold a pen. I wanted to just try as best as I could to get better, but it was incredibly frustrating. When I got back home, I didn’t want to leave the house. I’d built my life around the gym community and didn’t want judgement or sympathy from anyone.”
It wasn’t until the end of September, after ruling out all other possibilities, that she was diagnosed with MS.
“By then I’d managed to relearn to walk,” said Rhiannon. “My neurologist was surprised that I was able to walk into their office as my collapse had been so bad, but it was relief to finally have a diagnosis and a treatment plan.”
Rhiannon soon started running again, taking things slowly at first.
She said: “I couldn’t remember how my legs used to feel when I ran, and I thought if they felt shaky or like jelly it was because of the MS – but I soon learnt that it was because I was training again.
“What also helped me was seeing the Neilson twins competing at the Olympics on the TV at the time. They both have MS and it made me realise it doesn’t matter how much money you have, the treatment for the condition is still the same.”
Rhiannon now has an infusion every six months and yearly MRI scans and wants to share what’s happened to her to help give others hope.
She said: “When I first got my diagnosis I was looking for people like me and I only managed to find one person who was also a runner. Seeing her helped me a lot, and I want to do the same for others too by sharing my experience.
“MS does vary for people. I have a relapse and remit kind whereby I can collapse and be unwell and then hopefully recover, depending on the damage caused in the flare. Overall, I just need to take care of myself and try to keep stress to a minimum. Day to day I’m OK apart from walking into a wall every now and then, especially if I’m tired.”
On Sunday she ran the Oysho Cardiff Half Marathon, reclaiming the race that she was unable to take part in last year.
Rhiannon added: “Going from being in hospital and unable to walk to now doing the Cardiff Half is incredible. Movement really is medicine and the best thing you can do for yourself is to keep moving and incorporate it into your day.
“When you hear MS you think of the worst but the more I learn about it alongside my treatment, it’s not as scary as I originally thought. You learn to find your new normal.”
Matt Newman, Chief Executive at event organisers Run 4 Wales, added: “Hearing Rhiannon’s story is so inspiring and the journey she has been on to get herself back to this place after her setback last year is just incredible.”
Rhiannon was running for the Multiple Sclerosis Society.
