For Nita, the ability to run over 10km on her crutches is a life-changing accomplishment that became the difference between dread and daring. Having been diagnosed with a debilitating condition that rendered her in constant pain, running with chronic pain offered resilience – and a vital confidence to help manage the condition.
Ten years ago, Nita was diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), a chronic pain condition often called the world’s most painful incurable condition. She also lost the use of her right leg. She was on strong medication to manage the pain – lots of it.
In the first years of her diagnosis, she spent every living moment in suffering and wallowed in anguish. “I felt very sorry for myself, stayed in bed, drinking medications given to me by the doctors that I didn’t think were very good for my health,” she reflects.
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“I’m going to run 100 kilometres this month!”
Then, six years ago, Nita had had enough. She thought, “I’m hurting my kidneys and my liver and my brain, and I’m not there for my daughter as much as I want to be,” she recalls. She quit all pain medication and now lay recovering, in pain and in the throes of withdrawal.
While scrolling social media, she saw a Facebook post challenging anyone to a month-long running challenge to raise awareness for Alzheimer’s. Nita, whose family member had been diagnosed with the condition, felt a personal connection to the cause. “I decided this is it,” she says. “This is my reason [to get out of bed] – and I got up, and I told people around me ‘I’m going to run every single day of September for Alzheimer’s and dementia – and I’m going to do 100 kilometres this month’”. The reaction? Laughter. But the disbelief from everyone else only hardened her resolve. “They said, ‘How are you going to do that?’ I said: ‘Watch me.’”
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How Nita conquered running with chronic pain
The reaction? Laughter. But the disbelief from everyone else only hardened her resolve. “They said, ‘How are you going to do that?’ I said: ‘Watch me.’” Nita grabbed her crutches and made her way, brain foggy, shaky, in pain, down the street and towards her first kilometre. It took her an hour. “I cried through most of it,” Nita recalls. “But I had to force myself to get up and forget about the pain.” Over that first month, she completed her first 100km and had unlocked a newfound purpose: running for charity. “I run for charity because it gives me something to do for other people, but I’m also doing this for myself to show that I am capable of anything,” Nita explains.
Still in withdrawal, Nita grabbed her crutches and made her way, brain foggy, shaky, in pain, down the street and towards her first kilometre. Slowly and over an hour, she edged through the metres. Still, she kept going. “I cried through most of it,” Nita recalls. “But I needed the reason to get up – I had to force myself to get up and forget about the pain.”
The finish line
Over that first month, she completed her first 100km and had unlocked a newfound purpose: running for charity. “I run for charity because it gives me something to do for other people, but I’m also doing this for myself to show that I am capable of anything,” Nita explains. “Watch me, world. I can do this,” she says. “I can run. I’m differently able than the top runners in the Comrades, but I can still do it.”
Through running, Nita has not only reaped the physical benefits – she can now complete 15km in one run and has her eye on the Two Oceans half marathon – but is able to manage her chronic pain much better, too. Nita feels that “if you are strong enough to go through a race, then you’re strong enough to handle anything – and being strong in your mind now makes my pain better”. Even with post-run pain flare-ups, Nita insists the resilience, emotional regulation and confidence that come with running make it all worth it.
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