Of the 20,000 runners expected for the Run Melbourne fundraising event on July 16, nearly all will be doing so for a cause close to their heart.
For most, that’s simply a metaphor.
For Tarneit’s Jodie Ainsworth, the meaning is literal.
“I had fluid all around my heart and my organs were shutting down,” said the 44-year-old mother of the health ordeal that began two years ago and resulted in her spending months at The Alfred hospital fighting for her life.
It’s The Alfred that Ms Ainsworth will be participating for next Sunday, having already raised more $1600 for the hospital where she still receives treatment.
It’s that ongoing treatment and recovery that means Ms Ainsworth will complete the course which begins and ends at Melbourne Park, rather more slowly than most others.
“I won’t be running, I’ll be doing the 5.2km run but I’ll just be walking it,” Ms Ainsworth said.
That she can still walk at all is itself a remarkable feat of endurance.
Since her health began to unravel September 2021, Ms Ainsworth has not only narrowly escaped death – ‘I was only given a 2 per cent chance of survival – but lost almost all the bodily functions most adults take for granted.
Ironically, it was after finally being admitted to hospital in Werribee in May 2022 that the gravity of her situation became clear.
“I went downhill really quickly and they put me in an induced coma and sent me to The Alfred two days later,” said Ms Ainsworth, who would remain in a coma for more than a week and in The Alfred ICU for the next two and a half months.
Doctors eventually diagnosed an adverse reaction and with her condition stabilised, she was able to leave ICU and begin a recovery that’s included learning to walk, shower and feed herself again.
Only last month did she return to work at kindergarten in Tarneit.
As far as she has come, Ms Ainsworth knows some things won’t recover.
“My kidney function is only 50 per cent and it won’t get better.
It’s gonna be something that I live with for the rest of my life.”
However she retains hope that others will.
After upcoming heart surgery, Ms Ainsworth hopes to actually be able to run in Run Melbourne next year.
With the renewed outlook the last two years have given her, she’s every chance.
“Don’t take life for granted, live each day like it’s your last because it could be.”
Details: runmelbourne.com.au
