Do you believe in miracles? I do… Do you believe in happy endings… I most definitely do.
This story has a happy ending and I am going to jump to the punch line.. and then fill in the details. Paddy made a miraculous recovery and completed the Iron Man challenge yesterday in Nice in 13hours…
This is what happened…
By Friday evening we were resigned, Paddy included, to a weekend in hospital and the disappointment that his Ironman Triathlon challenge would be postponed until such time as he was better. The French Doctor said, that short of a miracle, there could be no way he would be race ready by Sunday…
Saturday morning… he woke up and felt nothing short of fantastic. All his symptoms had disappeared and he was raring to go…
When the Doctor did his morning rounds and saw Paddy… he couldn’t believe the change and promptly released him from hospital. I know what you are thinking… Believe me, if I had been there with him I would have persuaded the Doctor to keep him in hospital for another day to avoid all thoughts of the competition. I wasn’t there… ( we had driven home late the night before to collect a change of clothes for the weekend) and by the time Paddy called me to say he was checking out he was already on his way to register for Sunday’s event…
Can you imagine my shock… and horror? By the time we had arrived back in Antibes… it’s nearly 3 hours away… he had signed up. He is not a naive or reckless guy and he knew that we wouldn’t be happy about this. He promised us that he would not start the Ironman if he didn’t feel up to scratch and that he would stop during the race if he felt at all compromised…
I don’t think I need to tell you what kind of evening I spent on Saturday… worrying if he was going to race or not… but he is too old to be told what to do and I just had to trust his common sense… He looked in great shape and I found it hard to believe that he had spent the last two days in a French hospital attached to a drip…
As he swam off into the Bay of Angels at 6:30 on Sunday morning it was with trepidation and fear that I cheered him on. He made the 4km sea swim in one hour without any trouble… The bike ride was his biggest hurdle… he made that in seven hours… exactly the amount of time he had allowed for… That was the longest seven hours of my life… When he rode in to the bike changeover area… he looked as if he had just been out for a quick scoot around the block… not an arduous climb up and over the hinterland of Nice…
The marathon, 42 kilometres or 26 miles, was an aller-retour back and forth down the Promenade des Anglais… We watched him on each lap and never once did he falter…
When he crossed the finish line… our excitement and pride was off the charts. He ran his race as he had planned yet with a major setback that none of us had foreseen. To say I am relieved is a massive under statement… I feel as if I have survived an emotional triathlon…
I believe that you helped make this happen… all your kindness.. your words of comfort and your heartfelt sentiments reached him. He read every comment and I forwarded him all of your emails… This show of support was the miracle that he needed… Paddy knew that there were friends all over the world wishing him well, praying for his recovery… what a very fortunate and blessed boy he is…
As for the mother… your wise words and gentle support… got her through to the finish line… A million thank yous … xv
