Harbury 19-year-old hopes he inspired others with half marathon challenge

A 19-year-old from Harbury is hoping that he has inspired others with his half marathon challenge.

Adam Draper, has hemiplegia - a condition which affects one side of the body making it weaker than the other side.

Adam was due to take on the Coventry Half Marathon but because it has been postponed, he decided to complete his challenge at Draycote Water last Sunday (November 1).

He was joined by his uncle, Jamie Constable, who has also been his personal trainer and Kirsty Keating - one of Jamie's clients.

Adam said: "I have hemiplegia, which affects the right hand side of my body, which means it can be hard to do everyday tasks such as getting dressed and tying shoe laces compared to other people.

"I thought this was a great way to raise money for charity and to prove to people that I can do things beyond what is expected of me.

"I want to inspire other young people who live with this condition and show them that we can do the same things as able bodied people.

"I wanted to show them that we can push ourselves to do things we never thought would be possible."

"The half marathon went really well. It was really good to do it with my uncle as he pushed me so I would definitely finish it.

"It took me three hours and 12 minutes to complete

"It was really tough it was one of the hardest things I have ever done but I was really determined to finish so that drove me to keep going and complete the half marathon."

Despite finding the challenge tough Adam said he would take on similar challenges.

He said: "I would definitely do something like that again - it was really satisfying once I had finished it."

Jamie, who is from Long Itchington and runs Just Change personal training, said: "I just find it so inspiring how Adam managed to get through it.

"He really suffered after the 13k mark and was in real pain but he pushed through it.

"It's amazing how many people got involved and how Adam's story touched a lot of people."

With his challenge, Adam chose to raise money for Hemi Chat, which is a charity that supports children and young adults who have hemiplegia.

Initially Adam set himself a target of raising £1,000 and has smashed his target.

He said: "I have been blown away by all the support I have had received.

"So far have raised more than £4,000 and I really want to push to get to £5,000."

To donate go to: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/adam-draper4