A stroke paralyzed her. Her husband left. With her personal trainer, she found love.
When a rare spinal stroke paralyzed 37-year-old Riona Kelly from the waist down in 2015, doctors warned the mother of four that she would never walk again.
Just five days into her hospital stay, she received more bad news — her husband of 14 years was requesting a divorce, according to the Metro.
“After suffering a stroke not only did I have to deal with paralysis but I had to deal with losing my partner of 14 years,” she said to the Metro. “After he asked me for a divorce I was left completely alone. After five days in hospital I was told it would take me six months to a year to recover.”
It was a blow to Kelly, who said her husband left when she — and her kids — needed him the most.
But the determined mother from Britain kept working hard toward her recovery, eventually taking her first steps eight weeks after her stroke on a parallel bar, according to The Sun.
Within four months, Kelly was able to head home.
“Every day I built up my strength and after four months in hospital I was finally allowed to go home,” she said. “It took me 25 minutes to get up 16 steps, and the same time to come back down again, but I was determined to do it for my children.”
Soon after leaving the hospital, Kelly looked for a personal trainer on Facebook who could continue to help her recover. That’s when friends suggested she reach out to Keith Mason.
Mason became her personal trainer and, soon after, newfound love.
“After our sessions Keith and I stayed in contact, he would ask me how I was getting on and our relationship blossomed from there,” she told the Metro. “We have now been together for 11 months, the children really like him and I finally feel like I’m living the life I deserve.”
Kelly’s ex-husband asserts that he did not divorce her because she was paralyzed, saying that he wanted to separate the morning before the stroke, according to the Metro.
For Kelly — who continues to work out in the gym with her new boyfriend to strengthen her body — what once seemed like an absolute nightmare was actually a blessing in disguise.
“After my stroke I thought my life was over,” she said. “But it’s only just beginning and has opened so many wonderful doors. I’ve signed up with Models of Diversity and have just landed my first TV commercial. Looking back, going through what I did was the best thing to ever happen to me.”
This story was originally published August 25, 2017 at 8:47 AM with the headline "A stroke paralyzed her. Her husband left. With her personal trainer, she found love.."