I have been on a bit of a journey in recent years, after retiring early at 55, I was determined to get the most out of my retirement. At the time I was an unfit 25 stone in weight and in the following couple of years I lost 9 stone in weight and felt a different person. We had a motorhome and enjoyed travelling around the country seeing different places. I was still aware of how unfit I was and wanted that to change.

I joined a gym and tried to work hard but didn’t really enjoy it.  Then the covid years struck not only did the gym go by the wayside but 3 stone in weight went back on and I developed atrial fibrillation and, although there were short term fixes of having your heart restarted, I had the task of losing 4 stone in order to have a procedure that was more permanent which I did and had the magic fix last November.

This year I vowed again to try and get fitter and improve my ability to walk further, what could I do that would be more enjoyable than the gym?  I stumbled upon WALX and decided to give it a go. I ordered my walking poles and popped over to the WALX headquarters to pick them up, while I was there I met Gill Stewart and had a chat and told her I had booked up for my Walking with Poles course with Dorset Instructor Chris in a couple of weeks. I loved how friendly everyone seemed and felt at ease.

Meeting Chris was wonderful, I did the course and started booking on a few things. At first mainly the wellness sessions but I got brave and started doing a few Summer Strolls fitting in between motorhome trips I loved the walks and the other people I met.

I started having some problems with exhaustion and dizziness which on the first occasion we put down to the extreme heat of the day and my companions walked me back slowly. When it happened again at the end of a walk I still thought nothing of it and was not worried but the following day Chris messaged to find out if I was OK and said she was concerned and thought perhaps I ought to have a chat with the GP given my past issues.

In the following week or so I had various tests and it was found I had a 90% blockage in the main artery to my heart and two days had a stent put in. The consultant said I was a heart attack waiting to happen and the liklihood was I wouldn’t have survived it. WALX and Chris Pole saved my life quite literally and I thank the day I decided to give it a go.  Chris has been amazing so supportive and kind.

Thank you WALX