Inspiring stories about overcoming personal challenges are an integral part of the Parish Walk, but few walkers on the start line this year will have had to endure a journey which compares to that of Edward Kelly.

His life changed within a few hours on October 21, 2002, when he suffered a brainstem stroke aged just 21.

It would be easy to understand someone becoming bitter after experiencing such a cruel twist of fate - but most people who spend more than a few minutes talking to him will agree that it would be rare to meet someone who is more affable, or who has a more relaxed, philosophical outlook on life.

’I’d been getting headaches and dizzy spells for a few months,’ says Edward, aged 37, from Onchan.

’On the day I had the stroke I felt especially unwell and vomited.

’I had to be taken home from work because I could hardly walk and I went to bed thinking I would sleep it off.

’The next thing I remember is feeling pins and needles or numbness in my left side, and my voice disappearing.’

A few hours later Edward’s mum checked to see if he was OK and realised something was wrong.

’The ambulance crew had trouble getting me out of the room because I was so stiff and motionless,’ continues Edward.

He was transferred to a hospital in Liverpool and could barely move.

His lungs were severely affected and over the next five weeks in intensive care he was on and off a breathing machine, only able to communicate by a system of blinking.

Today, due to many years of medical care and his own determination, he has made a better recovery than anyone could have imagined.

He still has limited movement on his left side, and uses a crutch to walk, but that doesn’t stop him getting on with life.

Amazingly, by 2005 he was able to walk to Braddan in the Parish Walk and raised almost £14,000 for the Manx Stroke Foundation.

Facing a physical and mental challenge is nothing new, but walking even a few hundred metres requires every ounce of his energy and determination.

In the 2019 Parish Walk on June 22 he will start with all the other competitors on the NSC track and walk as far as he can.

The Parish Walk committee are also allowing Edward to cross the finish line in Douglas later that evening.

He will be using his four-wheeled walker (which he calls ’Roy Walker’ after the former Catchphrase host), and will be supported by Lesley Patterson, health and wellbeing co-ordinator at Manx Sport and Recreation.

He is grateful for the support he has received over many years from family, friends, his employers RL 360 and medical staff both here on the Island and in the UK.

He also praises the Manx Sport and Recreation team who have assisted with his physical rehabilitation and are now helping him prepare for his Parish Walk challenge.

As always, Edward will be fuelled by an inner strength and optimism which has served him well over the past 16 years.

He says: ’A doctor once told me that I survived because I had youth on my side.

’Many people do not survive brainstem strokes, so I’m one of the lucky ones and I am very grateful that I survived.

’I owe a lot to the doctors and other medical staff who looked after me while I was extremely ill, and to those people, some of whom I may never know, who prayed for my recovery. ’To all of them, I say thank you.’

Edward is too modest to boast about his achievements, so we leave the final word to someone who has seen first-hand the challenges he has overcome.

His father Peter Kelly says: ’Edward was quadriplegic when he was flown to Walton and had a lung collapse three times.

’At the time he left eight months later the consultants told us they really didn’t think he would have made it.

’Not once did he say "why me?" or "I’m too young for this."

’He got on with things with determination like learning to walk and talk again, learning to cook, to drive a car and to get back to work. On one occasion when returning to Walton for a follow-up appointment he commented: "I like coming back here as it reminds me that there are people worse off than me".’

To sponsor Edward go to https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/edward-kelly5 - or send cheques made payable to ’The Manx Stroke Foundation’ to 66 Millennium Court, Queens Promenade, Douglas, IM2 4NN.

â?¢ There’s still time to enter the Parish Walk, sponsored by Manx Telecom. Go to www.parishwalk.com

The entry deadline is midnight on Sunday (May 5).