A nine-year-old Belfast girl who is non-verbal and is a wheelchair user is on a quest to raise awareness of assisted running and inclusion.
With a diagnosis of Quad Cerebral Palsy and Dystonia, the part of Katie-Louise Goodfellow’s brain that is damaged means she is unable to emotionally regulate herself.
But her family have found a way of helping her do this, and of supporting her wellbeing, by assisted running.
Alongside her father Derek, Katie-Louise has completed 49 Junior Parkruns, 47 Parkruns, the Belfast City Marathon, 10 half marathons and numerous 10K and 5K runs over the past year and a half.
“Katie-Louise loves being out and taking part in runs,” said Derek.
“She loves being part of it with other people. Even though Katie-Louise is non-verbal, she is very sociable.
“If she senses people are struggling during a run she will reach out and grab their hand, she will smile at them, and start pulling their hand to encourage them along a little bit.”
Explaining how they found a love for assisted running Derek says; “I started running with Katie-Louise in a jogging buggy when she was around three, but due to the repetitive lifting of Katie-Louise, I ripped my thumb out of its joint.
“After that we had to stop because any movement would cause me excruciating pain.
“In August 2023, we decided to try different sporting activities with Katie-Louise’s younger brother, Dawson.
“We thought running would be good for him as he had so much energy and we took him to a Junior parkrun at the Waterworks in Belfast.
“I ran with Dawson as he was only four at the time and within 50 yards, I knew I had the running bug back.
“I thought it would be a father-son activity, but after two weeks of us leaving my wife Victoria and Katie-Louise at home, and Katie-Louise shouting and motioning that she wanted to come with us, we took her with us on week three in her day chair.
“I ran with the kids and was going a bit too fast around a corner and Dawson had to put one of his hands on the armrest of Katie-Louise’s chair to stop it going up on two wheels.
“Then they were holding hands for the rest of the run, smiling and just loving it and everything snowballed from there. Katie-Louise had the bug back too.”
Aiming to continue raising awareness of assisted running and inclusion, the father and daughter duo are preparing to take on the Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke’s (NICHS) Red Dress Fun Run on February 23.
They are supporting the charity after Derek’s mother suffered a stroke in April 2024 and later passed away.
“The focus of the Red Dress Fun Run is that it is an event for everyone to come and be part of, and that is something we are all for,” he said.
“We have seen things move forward for assisted runners but there is still more to do.
“We want Katie-Louise and other children to be able to take part and be included like anyone else and for participation of assisted runners to increase.
“Hopefully, other assisted runners might be inspired by hearing our story and come take part in the Red Dress Fun Run too.
“Our message is running is for everyone, no matter ability, and we would love to see more people heeding that and getting involved.”
Visit www.nichs.org.uk/RedDressFunRun for information.
