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Miles For Mind - Jaime Walker-Gartside

Miles For Mind - Jaime Walker-Gartside

In 2014 I witnessed a man get knocked over by a bus despite my best attempts to save the man as I am a nurse he sadly passed away a couple of days later.  After witnessing the incident I had re-current nightmares and I often had panic attacks  when I was driving down the road where the accident happened.  A couple of months later my marriage breakdown and I really struggled with panic attacks and had a constant feeling of anxiety.  I constantly felt that something bad was going to happen to myself or a family member.  I found it extremely hard to lift the negative thoughts.  I felt consistently tired despite getting more than enough sleep.  I really believed that if I gave it time I would begin to feel better and my mood would pick up.  However, as the months went on I continued to feel anxious.

At the end of 2015 I was still struggling I came across an article about running helping with mental health.  I decided to download the couch to 5k and nervously joined a gym.  At first I felt self conscious on my second outing to the gym I fell off the treadmill which actually made me feel better as I figured there is nothing more I can do to embarrass myself ha ha.  I entered the Sunderland 10k which gave me a really good goal but deep down I never thought I could do it; as I had lost all my self worth. 

Despite this I kept going and was running 8 km by the end of the programme.  I began to realise I was capable and was able to do anything I could put my mind to.  I felt positive and began looking forward rather than constantly looking back.  I successfully completed Sunderland 10k and I have a real passion for running and feel positive and excited about the future.  It has also helped me lose a lot of weight which has been a massive help on my physical health as I have spondylosis and osteoarthritis.
 
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Thanks to Jaime for sharing this story. As part of #MilesForMind we want to raise money for Mind and also awareness of mental health issues.

It's OK to have a mental health issue, it's OK to talk about mental health, and it's OK to ask for help.

We firmly believe that running can contribute to a healthy body, and healthy mind and we hope sharing people's stories of mental health and running will inspire others to lace up for better mental health.

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