Running a marathon is tough and to add another challenge Maddy is running London without Kidneys

Every night, Maddy Warren hooks herself up to a dialysis machine for seven hours in order to stay alive. At just 13, she developed a disease which attacked her kidneys. She suffered swollen eyes and nausea, had crippling headaches and was left exhausted all the time – a dramatic change from the previously fit and energetic girl she had been. Despite her condition, Maddy, now 34, is tackling the London Marathon this year and will be the first dialysis patient to ever do so. “I’ve always kept fit through circuit training and general adventures, but I knew this would be a different challenge altogether,” she says. “Without kidneys, my body can’t manage its own fluids or electrolyte balance, and constantly running for five or more hours means I have to be so incredibly careful and really listen to my body. I want to show how I can do anything I set my mind to.” Maddy, from South London, had symptoms that pointed to chronic kidney failure. “At first I was treated with steroids, but they had little to no effect. "Then I had chemotherapy to stop my immune system attacking my kidneys, but nothing worked,” she says. Now a business consultant, Maddy also enjoys competitive skydiving, scaling mountains and horse riding, and has raised thousands for Kidney Care UK and Kidney Research UK.

posted Saturday April 21st