Marathon runner feared she would not walk again

A running enthusiast who was left walking with a stick just eight months ago, due to rare disease, is set to take part in the London Marathon.

Sue Paz, from Sherborne in Dorset, was diagnosed with sarcoidosis after years of burning and stabbing pains, numbness and pins and needles.

Last year the pain and loss of sensation became so severe the BBC South News manager thought she would never walk again. But she said since starting a "wonder drug" treatment, she has seen a rapid improvement.

Now Mrs Paz is planning to run the London Marathon in support of the charity Sarcoidosis UK, to "help find a cure for the next generation".

Mrs Paz survived a heart attack at the age of 40, in 2019, which was brought on by her sarcoidosis.

The mother-of-two had been living with other symptoms for many years, including recurring left-sided paralysis and chronic fatigue.

At times she said her nerve pain, known as small fibre neuropathy (SFN) and also caused by sarcoidosis, was "like a million bluebottles under my skin trying to get out".

"I was told by several medical professionals it was caused by stress and it was in my head," she said.

By last summer Mrs Paz started needing to use a walking stick.

"I remember breaking down in front of my family on holiday – thinking I wouldn't be able to walk again."

But since being treated with infliximab, which is a common treatment for Crohn's Disease and rheumatoid arthritis, she said she had been "brought back from the brink".

"The pain hasn't completely gone away but I genuinely think I would be in a wheelchair if I hadn't had it," she continued.

"I might have had to give up work."

Mrs Paz twice ran the London Marathon in her 20s, in 2005 and 2006, and completed a virtual London Marathon in 2023 as a remote runner in her home town.

She said the training for this year's event, which she began in October, had been "going really well".

"I'm very nervous, which is good because it means I care and I'm psyching myself up for it," she said.

"With this illness you never know what you're going to wake up to.

"That's the biggest issue – you never know what sort of day you're going to have. Some days you feel okay and other days you feel absolutely awful.

"It's really, really hard... but I refuse to give up."

Mrs Paz continued: "I've lost the ability to dance, which is the most gutting of all. I've lost the coordination for it. Running in a straight line is easier.

"With dancing, I can hear the music, I can feel the rhythm, but my brain can't get my limbs to react quickly enough.

"I'm hoping that will come back but running seems to be an easier option."

As well as fundraising for Sarcoidosis UK, Mrs Paz is running for Bowel Cancer UK.

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