Perkins Great Eastern Run 13 October 2013

October 16, 2013

A team from Facial Palsy UK decided to enter the Perkins Great Eastern Run this year, just the 5k fun run and not the half marathon, but read on to find out why this was a huge achievement for one of our participants!

Bethan’s 21st

It was 29 February 2008 (a leap year) when Bethan Robertson-Smith was driving home from university in her car. Just 22 years old, Bethan was bubbly and outgoing, with a bright future ahead of her. A terrible car accident meant that Bethan did not make it home that day, and she awoke 13 days later in hospital, she had been in a coma for nearly two weeks. Bethan’s head took all of the impact of the accident and she had four fractures to her skull. Three long months were spent in hospital and later in a brain rehabilitation unit, because Bethan needed to learn to walk, talk and eat again. She had to relearn all of the basic functions that we normally learn in the first few years of life. With so many things going on, not much attention was paid to Bethan’s face, because it was hoped it would heal naturally as time went on. It was not until eight months after the accident that Bethan was seen by a neurologist, the lasting effects of the accident were a brain injury and bilateral facial paralysis, Bethan was no longer able to move her face. Both of her facial nerves had been crushed due to the fractures to the petrous bones deep inside her head, and also the swelling.  We take the simplest things for granted in our lives, the ability to close our eyes for sleep at night, to hold food in our mouth as we eat, to kiss our loved ones, and to smile or even frown, but all these things are controlled in some way by the nerves in our face. The accident changed Bethan’s life forever.

Before surgery

The charity Facial Palsy UK did not exist in 2008 when Bethan had her accident, and she found there was very little support out there, even to this day Bethan has not found another person with bilateral facial palsy caused by trauma, it was a very lonely journey. Bethan did her own research and consulted several different specialists, to her dismay she found out that a window of time had passed for some nerve intervention surgery which may have helped her. Eventually Bethan was offered a ray of hope when she learned about the Labbé technique, surgery that aims to prove facial symmetry, both at rest and when you’re smiling.  Bethan decided to have this surgery as well as have platinum chains implanted into her eyelids to aid with closure; left untreated her eyesight was also at risk.

Bethan is determined that no other person should ever have to face a similar struggle alone and she was one of a team of volunteers who were instrumental in getting the new charity Facial Palsy UK off the ground in July 2012. Bethan raised a huge amount of money in 2012 by holding a music event in Wales, where she lived at the time. This year however, she decided to challenge herself personally, as well as raise funds for the charity. Five years after learning to walk again, Bethan has been working with a personal trainer so that she would be fit enough to take part in the Perkins Great Eastern Fun Run. Running is not easy for Bethan, the accident has affected her breathing and the brain injury means she battles frequent migraines.

Bethan now

The day of the run dawned wet and miserable, it couldn’t have been much worse in terms of weather! The wind and rain made this an even tougher challenge for Bethan; the rain water was constantly dripping in her eyes, which don’t have an automatic blink mechanism to protect them. Being exposed to the elements meant that the scar tissue on her face was also incredibly sore. Bethan was absolutely determined to do her very best though and she left the rest of Facial Palsy UK’s team lagging behind, apart from our 13 year old fox! She achieved an amazing time of 37 minutes and 21 seconds, our charity coordinator Karen has to admit to being five minutes slower!

Bethan is an amazing ambassador for Facial Palsy UK, and next week she is also launching a new support group in Bristol, where she now lives.

Bethan’s fundraising total for taking part in the Perkins Great Eastern Run currently stands at £1,420, just shy of her £1,500 target, we think this is an incredible achievement and are very grateful to Bethan and all those that have supported her.

We also want to say a big thank you to the All-In-One Company who supplied the fabulous onesies! They have also very kindly donated an £80 voucher to our Grand Prize Draw.