Brave Darran given gym award
Darran Stanesby, 49, discovered he had a rare form of Ataxia after he kept falling over his speech became slurred.
The condition can affect balance, coordination, and speech - and in most cases there is no cure and it can get progressively worse.
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Hide AdIn Darran’s case he found himself paralysed and in hospital.
He said: “I found I was getting weaker and weaker. I needed a wheelchair. So I decided I needed to make a change.
He had been undergoing physiotherapy but thought doing more exercise might help.
He said: “Before my diagnosis, I’d truthfully never used weights.
But I started to train and entered a few competitions.
“I managed to win a few and it felt amazing.
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Hide AdIt also really helped with my symptoms and I’ve never looked back.”
Darran even won the British and world championships for wheel chair body building in 2013 as well as a whole host of other accolades.
He was also invited to take part in the world’s strongest disabled man competition and came an impressive second place.
Sadly he has now been advised to stop competing by doctors, but still trains three times a week.
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Hide AdHe said:“My neurosurgeon said that by now, so long after my diagnosis I should not be able to be doing the things I am.”
Darran joined Anytime Fitness Gym in Mansfield after bumping into manager Adam Robinson in Tesco - and has now won the global company’s 2017 Inspiration award.
His local gym had relocated so he was looking for somewhere new to train.
He said: “The moment I went in to Anytime Fitness Mansfield - it was just like a home from home . I could see all around me that people were willing to help and wanting to help.
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Hide Ad“When I arrive at the gym, I’m not Darran in a wheelchair, I’m not Darran who has one of the rarest brain diseases in the world, I’m just Darran.
Manager Adam said Darran is a “true inspiration”.
“Since entering that first bodybuilding competition he has gone on to win numerous trophies.
“He always has a positive attitude to life no matter what comes his way, he just gets back up and gets on with it.”
Anytime Fitness are hoping to help raise money and awareness for Darran’s condition.
Darran said the gym has agreed to hold an awareness day on September 25.
All money raised will be donated to Ataxia UK, which funds medical research into the disease.