A Maryport woman is to walk over 60 miles in a month in support of a charity close to her heart.
Kelly Rowley, 38, will complete the challenge in support of the British Tinnitus Association (BTA), a charity that has helped her manage her tinnitus, a debilitating condition that affects around 55,000 adults in Cumbria alone and one in eight adults throughout the UK.
Kelly reached out to the BTA Tinnitus Support Team for support and advice on how to manage her tinnitus.
“I have suffered with severe intrusive tinnitus for nearly 10 years now. It impacts me massively and over the last two years, it has made me severely depressed. It’s a complex condition that not many understand, and it’s taken me a long time to adapt to it along with my sudden hearing loss. It is a debilitating condition and really hard to live with,” she said.
“Last year I hit a real hard place with my health, both physically and mentally, and tinnitus was one of the root causes. After speaking with my GP, they decided I would do a small exercise activity each day to help me.
“At first, I was scared to actually do this. I had gone from a sociable person and very active to battling hearing loss and tinnitus, which has totally changed my life. I was scared of living and had withdrawn from everything and thought exercise would be impossible, that’s how bad depression and tinnitus had me.”
Kelly’s challenge has been made harder by having to isolate because of COVID-19, but she is on track to finish the challenge during the BTA’s Tinnitus Week, which begins on February 7.
The British Tinnitus Association’s vision is “A world where no one suffers from tinnitus” which Kelly fully supports. She is hoping that her step challenge will get people talking about tinnitus and raise the funds along the way to make sure people can access the support they need now, and fund future tinnitus research, to ultimately find a cure.
The British Tinnitus Association Fundraising Officer Jess Pollard said: “Kelly has overcome so much in the last couple of years and we’re so grateful that she is now able to use her own experience to support others and to keep raising awareness!”
Donate at justgiving.com/Kelly-Rowley7.
Want to get involved? Visit tinnitus.org.uk/step-challenge to take part in your own step challenge.
