A young woman told she would probably never walk again after losing the sensation in her legs aged 14 now lives a life she never believed possible as an accomplished runner tackling ultramarathons after staging a remarkable recovery.

Jordi Adams, 27, a council administrator, said medics were stumped when she lost her mobility as a teenager and needed to use a wheelchair and crutches to move around.

She said it is unlikely she will ever know the root cause of her mobility issues but after spending four weeks in hospital receiving physiotherapy, she was able to walk unaided again and spent the next five years rebuilding her strength.

After spending most of her teenage years debilitated, Jordi’s condition improved thanks to a hospital rehabilitation programme in 2016, before she started running in 2019 aged 23 by completing the NHS Couch to 5k running programme.

Jordi is now a regular runner after making a remarkable recovery (Collect/PA Real Life)

She has since gone from strength to strength, taking on half marathons, marathons and even an ultramarathon in July this year – racing 50km (31 miles) in the Ham and Lyme 50k, from Ham Hill Country Park in Somerset to Lyme Regis in Dorset.

Jordi, who lives in Crewkerne, Somerset, with her husband, Matthew, 35, a design engineer, told PA Real Life: “I had pretty much been told, ‘this will be your life’.

“My life was medication and hospital visits, I didn’t really see myself having my own house and life and job – everything that I’ve got now, it just didn’t seem to be on the cards for me.

“I feel very lucky to be able to move unaided now and it’s the best motivation for going out for a run.

Jordi spent four weeks in hospital where she received physiotherapy (Collect/PA Real Life)

“I don’t think I’d have believed it if someone told me at 14 I’d be where I’m at now but if I could, I would just say to her, keep going and don’t give up hope.”

Jordi had suffered with ill health from the age of 10 but said things took a turn for the worse when she was 14 years old.

She said: “At 10 I had mumps and I never really got fully better from that. I had a lot of chronic fatigue problems but the mobility problems came when I was 14.”

Jordi’s health was slowly deteriorating but it was not until 2010 that she suddenly lost the feeling in her legs one day.

Jordi needed to use a wheelchair and crutches after losing the sensation in her legs (Collect/PA Real Life)

“I was at school and I just lost sensation in one of my legs and by the next day, I couldn’t willingly move my legs at all,” she said.

“It was really scary.”

Going back and forth to the doctor’s with her parents, medics struggled to find an answer.

Needing the use of a wheelchair most days, and being able to walk on crutches on good days, Jordi was told that it was unlikely she would ever walk unaided again.

Jordi had suffered with ill health from the age of 10 but said things took a turn for the worse when she was 14 years old (Collect/PA Real Life)

“I don’t think I’ll ever get to the bottom of why it happened, they went through all sorts of different tests,” she said.

“In the end, they told me that effectively the messages from my brain to my body weren’t functioning but they weren’t really sure why and I don’t think they ever will be.”

While Jordi’s legs were not paralysed, she would go through periods of time having no sensation in them and she would use a wheelchair.

On days where Jordi did have some sensation in her legs, she would use crutches.

Jordi thought she would need walking aids for the rest of her life (Collect/PA Real Life)

“It very much varied on how my legs were at the time, even on crutches I was very limited on how far I could walk,” she said.

It was not until 2016, age 19, during a visit to her GP that Jordi was told about a hospital that could rehabilitate her.

Referred by her doctor, Jordi was admitted to Southmead Hospital, where she spent four weeks receiving physiotherapy.

She said: “It all happened very quickly. They were keen to try and get me off my medication and to teach me to walk again.

“It was a case of tricking the brain into letting my legs move again and getting that movement back.

Jordi and her husband Matthew are both keen runners (Collect/PA Real Life)

“It was mainly just physio and occupational therapy to rebuild my physical strength.”

Four weeks after arriving in a wheelchair, Jordi was discharged and walked out of the hospital without any mobility aids.

The 27-year-old has not used her crutches since and, once home, immediately threw herself into walking regularly – then discovered running a few years later.

Jordi said: “I did struggle with walking when I came out of hospital.

“I’d been immobile for so long that waking felt quite unnatural for a long time because it was something that I’d had to relearn to do.

Jordi has now taken part in ultramarathons (Collect/PA Real Life)

“It was a long process, there was about five years between coming out of hospital and starting to run.

“I would just go on walks with my husband and one day, I just thought about trying Couch to 5k.

“Running was something I’ve never really done before and I think it probably improved my overall posture because for a long time I was walking very hunched over because I was used to being on crutches.

“When I first started walking again, my joints were really hyper mobile because of the loss of strength. I don’t have those issues any more because the running has definitely helped on my journey to becoming functional again.”

Not only has running helped Jordi to regain her strength but it has also been positive for her mental health.

Jordi now lives a life she never believed possible (Collect/PA Real Life)

She added: “Regaining your mobility is the only motivation you’ll ever need to go running.

“You have some days where you think, ‘I really can’t be bothered to go out today,’ but when things get hard I just remember where I was before and helps me to keep going.”

Taking part in regular 5k runs, Jordi ran her first official half marathon in Yeovil in 2021.

That same year, Jordi attempted her first marathon but, after suffering heatstroke at mile 20, she didn’t finish and ended up completing the distance in her own time a few weeks later.

However, in April this year, she took on the Newport marathon, making it her first official completed marathon.

Jordi was told she would probably never walk again after losing the sensation in her legs (Collect/PA Real Life)

Racing further and further distances, Jordi took on the Ham and Lyme ultramarathon this July, completing 50km in seven-and-a-half hours.

Jordi said: “My parents are obviously extremely proud and really happy because they didn’t think that this was the sort of life that I’d be able to have. My husband runs as well and his parents have always been very active.

“We’re very much a running family so it’s part of all of our lives, really.

“I love running, it’s a huge part of my life now and I feel very lucky to be able to move my body, it’s very freeing for me.”

The Principality Cardiff Half Marathon takes place on Sunday October 6 2024. To enter visit: www.cardiffhalfmarathon.co.uk/take-part/register/