A hardcore runner with a brain tumour has postponed his honeymoon to run a marathon – but says his wife will forgive him.
When Ryan O’Shea, a police researcher, began suffering with frequent headaches, he initially brushed off any cause for concern.
That was until they morphed into painful migraines and the 30-year-old started experiencing difficulties with his speech and memory loss.
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Ryan and his wife Hannah, 29, were shocked when doctors told them he had a tumour in his brain.
Rather than let his diagnosis defeat him, Ryan, who recently tied the knot with the love of his love, decided to take action.
To celebrate their nuptials, they’re not jetting off somewhere warm – instead, they’ll be taking on a half marathon.
Thankfully, wife Hannah is onboard with the somewhat unusual wedding celebration.
“It’s slightly unconventional to celebrate our first week of marriage in this way,” Hannah, from Jersey, told Need To Know.
“But most people who know us are not surprised.
“We explain it as our ‘mini-moon’ and we’ll treat ourselves to a couple of days in London on the way home.”
For Ryan, the marathon isn’t just a way to raise money for charity.
Doctors were not able to remove Ryan’s grade one diffuse astrocytoma due to its tricky location – instead, they installed a shunt to drain fluid.
An avid cyclist, he was heartbroken when they told him to give up the sport because the risk of him crashing and disturbing the shunt was too great.
To keep chasing the fitness high, Ryan took up another sport: running.
He said: “Running lets me forget about life and just focus on one leg after the other.
“I can focus on my training plan or the route, and leave everything else behind.
“I still get more fatigued now than I did previously – and I have been told this could happen indefinitely.
“But the more I run, I believe it’s improving.”
The bug has rubbed off on Hannah, too.
She said: “Most of the time while running, we enjoy each other’s company.
“I do moan a bit and hate being in the ‘pain cave’ [which is mental state of extreme physical exhaustion].
“Ryan thrives on that though and is pushing me to hit my targets.”
On 4 October, the pair will take on the Superhalf Cardiff to raise funds for The Brain Tumour Charity.
Hannah said: “With such a busy year preparing for our wedding, it didn’t seem likely that we would fit in a SuperHalf race.
“Ryan suggested we both try for a charity place, never imagining we’d actually be selected.”
Once the marathon is complete, they’re looking to sell their flat and purchase their first home together.
After that it will finally be time to celebrate their commitment somewhere hot.
For now, though, they’re focusing on spending precious time together.
Ryan added: “I’m currently having MRI scans every six to 12 months, basically to see if anything has changed.
“I have been told that sometime in the future, it is likely it will do, they just don’t know when.
“So I really try to live my life every day that it comes, and be thankful, and use it well.
“So much of what happened to me was out of my hands.
“I now live by the motto: ‘It is what it is.’”
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