STROKE survivor John Owens is hanging up his running shoes after completing a 1000-mile charity run over 12 months in memory of his best friend.
The former army officer undertook his epic challenge in aid of Help for Heroes and Chest Heart Stroke Scotland, following the tragic loss of his best friend and fellow soldier David Davis to suicide late last year.
As part of Davy’s Run, John completed the London and Stirling Marathons, six Half Marathons, 12 10km Races and the River Ayr Way Ultra Marathon Relay, finishing with the Great Scottish Run last Sunday – a year after losing his childhood companion.
In doing so the 43-year-old, from Kilmarnock, raised £1700 for Help for Heroes and CHSS along with awareness of PTSD and Help for Heroes Hidden Wounds service, which gives mental health support to veterans and their families.
He said: "Every single one of the miles I've covered, David and I were there at some point, either serving or for military training.
“His family are 100 per cent supportive and have backed me in everything I've done. It was very emotional at the finishing line at the Great Scottish Run.”
John suffered two strokes, with doctors later finding a blood clot in his brain caused by a heart defect from birth.
After his diagnosis, John underwent months of rehabilitation at Headley Court Rehabilitation Centre and has been supported by Help for Heroes in his ongoing recovery, including from depression and anxiety caused by his physical injuries.
Four years ago John took up running to get out of the house and make new friends and went on to conquer the Scottish Half Marathon and the Great Scottish Run in 2016.
However, a few days later, his friend David Davis took his own life leaving John devastated.
Help for Heroes has today launched a new section on its website with a focus on mental health, to offer further understanding and support for those who need it.
For more, visit helpforheroes.org.uk/get-support/mental-health-and-wellbeing/improving-your-mental-health
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here