A woman who was left unable to walk in a straight line because of a rare brain condition is now running an ultramarathon.
Mel Sykes, 42, was diagnosed with a Chiari malformation – where the lower part of the brain pushes down into the spinal canal – after losing her balance and slurring her speech.
Mel, who has previously took part in 100 mile races, had surgery to reduce the pressure on her brain but was told there was a chance that she could never run again.
However, she’s now taking part in the Spine Race – where participants have seven days to run 268 miles from Edale, Derbys., to Kirk Yetholm, Scotland.
Mel said: “I was able to stop wearing my glasses about three months ago as my vision is back to normal.
“Sometimes I’m a bit wobbly on my feet still but I’m doing great.
“I never thought I’d be up and about again – let alone doing crazy things like this.”
Mel first started suffering with double vision in 2023, but went to the opticians and the GP who both “didn’t seem too concerned” about it and prescribed her some glasses.
She then struggled to drive because of her double vision and then started suffering from having pins and needles in the left side of her face, arm and hand.
Mel was then unable to walk in a straight line because she was losing her balance and then she started to slur her speech.
She said: “I began with double vision in the summer which my optician and GP didn’t seem too concerned about at the time.
“I was prescribed some glasses, but these didn’t really help and I was starting to struggle with my work as a specialist podiatrist.
“Everyone kept asking me if I felt tired.
“At this point I had a full-time job and was running 100-mile races – I didn’t know what was normal tired or poorly tired.
“My colleagues were so supportive throughout all of the investigations but it became too difficult to manage my work with the double vision.
“I had to stop driving, so then I had to go off work.
“As soon as I did, all of the other symptoms came on pretty quickly.
“I was losing my balance, my left hand, arm and the left side of my face had pins and needles constantly, and I had a strange tremor in my head.
“In just a week, I couldn’t even walk in a straight line and was starting to slur my speech.”
Mel, of Holmfirth, West Yorks., was initially treated at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust but was then referred to the specialist neurosurgery team at Leeds General Infirmary.
But after having surgery, she asked doctors Ian Anderson and Emeka Okorie if she could ever do an ultramarathon again – but they said she might not even be able to run now.
Mel, a specialist podiatrist, said: “I asked them if I’d ever be able to run an ultramarathon again.
“They told me that they couldn’t guarantee I’d be able to run at all, let alone to the extremes I’d been doing.
“I had to accept it and concentrate on my recovery.”
After Mel’s surgery, she started walking small distances with a friend but just four months after the operation, she took part in an 18 mile race.
She said: “I was up on my feet quite quickly but walking small distances at first, to the end of the street and back was all I could manage as long as a friend was with me.
“By the end of December I was able to start some slow running again.
“Then in February, I ran an 18-mile race – just four months after brain surgery.”
Mr Anderson said: “Melanie is an inspirational patient.
“We see patients with Chiari malformation not infrequently but hers was one of the most substantial that I have come across and her symptoms were so severe that I knew that she needed her surgery urgently.
“It’s humbling to see how courageous and determined our patients can be.
“I feel sure that her fantastic recovery is due, in no small amount, to her positive attitude.”
The Spine Race left Edale yesterday (Sunday) and competitors have a week to reach the finish line in Scotland.
