A woman living with disabilities is proving she is stronger than her condition by raising money for charity by taking on the London Marathon.
Emily Parr, 35, from Wymondham, is raising money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust after watching her lifelong friend live with the condition.
Despite her own condition, she wants to focus on raising money to improve other people's health.
She said: 'I have seen how Cystic Fibrosis can be a really horrible and a debilitating condition. My friend was not like a normal child growing up as her lungs did not function properly, she could not run around and play, she would get out of breath very easily.
'Considering I have seen such a close friend go through such a life-limiting condition I wanted to help someway.'
This is not Miss Parr's first London Marathon. She ran it aged 21 before any of her symptoms had developed.
Born with a benign brain tumour, she was unaware of how her life would change.
'After the marathon, I started to developed ataxia,' she added, 'which meant I started limping with bad balance and coordination.'
The condition also affects her hearing and eyesight but Miss Parr has not lost her sense of adventure, she said: 'I can't wait to be in the London Marathon again. It was so good the first time. You can't train for the feeling of having thousands of people around you chanting your name, you feel like a superstar.'
Miss Parr has been using a wheelchair for less than a year and now has a focused training routine for the marathon which will see her compete alongside Sir Mo Farah.
She added: 'It can be difficult in comparison to running as there is not a lot of places to train in a wheelchair. So I have been in the gym, training with weights to make sure my arms are strong.
'The main focus of this challenge is not my health but raising money to improve other people's lives positively.
'Even though I face huge health problems, I still want to raise money to help other people.'
Miss Parr is hoping to beat her £2,463 raised from her first marathon attempt.
To donate go to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/emily-parr.
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