An inspirational army veteran who experienced significant sight loss following brain surgery will this weekend run the Edinburgh Marathon with only the aid of a long cane. For the second time in the space of five weeks, 50-year-old grandfather Steven Waterston will be participating in a marathon in a bid to raise vital funds for charity, Guide Dogs.
And, as if that’s not enough, Steven – who completed the London Marathon last month – will be running dressed as a dog. In 2003, Steven’s life changed dramatically after he suffered a sudden brain haemorrhage while taking a shower. The former British Army chef was diagnosed with a large and inoperable arterial vascular malformation (AVM) on his brain.
With his army career put on hold, Steven turned to running as a coping mechanism. “Running became a part of my recovery,” he said. “I’ve always been a runner, even as a child, but I began to get into more serious and structured training, covering longer distances.”
It was during his recovery that he decided to set himself the challenge of taking part in the Edinburgh Marathon. His first bleed occurred on the same day as the inaugural Edinburgh Marathon on June 14, 2003 – which was also the birthday of his wife Lynn and their wedding anniversary. Exactly a year and a day after his first brain haemorrhage, Steven completed the race.
“It was my first marathon, and I vowed never again,” he said. I ran in a cheap pair of trainers and my feet were a mess with blisters. While in training, I should have realised that. After the blisters healed, I invested in decent footwear and after that, I was hooked.”
Steven endured reconstructive ankle surgery in 1998 following an injury while on one of four tours of Bosnia and again in 2002, and had a third operation in 2007 following a climbing accident That didn’t stop feisty Steven completing the Edinburgh Marathon on crutches only five weeks later, finishing in seven hours and 32 minutes.
But four days later, Steven was admitted to hospital with life-threatening deep vein thrombosis and received emergency treatment, followed by six months of rehab. He then immediately started training for his first London Marathon in April 2008.
The following August, he experienced a second bleed and months later underwent high-risk brain surgery which left him paralysed on his left side and with significant sight loss. “The operation totalled more than 35 hours over a six-day period and when I regained consciousness, I couldn’t move,” he explained.
“My sight condition is known as a complete homonymous hemianopia. I have total sight loss of the left visual field and I’m partially sighted on the right.”
Despite further complications resulting from the surgery, including a pulmonary embolism and pneumonia, miraculously Steven was back running the Loch Ness Marathon just eight months later using his long cane.
“It was so distressing coming to terms with everything,” admits Steven, of South Bank, Midlothian, who spent much of 2010/11 in rehab.
“You had to find a way to deal with things without being consumed by it all. I had a very difficult time adjusting to everything. My driving licence was gone, my career had prematurely ended and I was trying to cope with my sight loss and the effects of brain trauma.”
In August 2009, he completed a college access course to enable him to study physiotherapy. It was during his studies that an inspirational lecturer, Keith – with whom Steven has remained close friends – gave him some harsh, home truths: he was going backwards rather than forwards.
“It was hard to listen to and accept. But with hindsight, so true,” he said. “Everyone around me was telling me that I was doing really well but, the truth was, I wasn’t. He sat me down and talked about the progress I was making.
"He was the only person to be brave enough to lift his head above the parapet and help me face up to the reality that I needed to slow things down and reset. It was probably the most invaluable piece of advice I’ve ever been given. Without that, I’d have gone on making more mistakes.”
Steven spiralled into depression and again turned to running as a cathartic release. “Christmas was looming and my life was unrecognisable with, I thought, little hope for the future,” he said.
“In January 2010 I went to veterans’ rehab centre Headley Court in Surrey for extensive neuro-rehabilitation and did eventually seek help but refused to accept a pharmacological outlet from the doctors and eventually ended up in cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for a year before beginning to reassemble my life, all the while still running – as that was my medicine.
“Running for me, as with so many others, has been my comfort blanket. Despite being bumped into by pedestrians, bumping into inanimate objects such as wheelie bins, sandwich boards and lamp posts, and even being run over twice by vehicles, I love to run – the harder, the better.
“It clears the mind, restores focus, balances perspective, and overall makes you appreciate that you are still able to do ‘your thing,’ no matter how slow you feel you are getting.”
Steven joined Edinburgh Athletics Club in January 2011, shortly before his medical discharge from the army after almost 20 years’ service. “Life was getting altogether darker and I felt I was running out of time and options,” remembers Steven, who graduated as a sports therapist in 2016.
After a couple of years working in small clinics, he launched his own small practice in a converted garage from which he now works to help others deal with their struggles and improve their own physical and mental robustness. He also qualified as a technical official for Scottish Athletics and coaches children and young people aged eight to 18, predominately in middle distance running, two evenings a week.
In addition, he worked on the Athletics team for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, at which he was a Baton Bearer for The Queen’s Baton Relay – a source of great pride for Steven. He last year marked his 50th birthday by running the London and San Francisco Marathons and the Scottish Half Marathon.
Daredevil Steven also leapt 12,000ft out of a plane and performed a bungee jump, all to raise money for Cash For Kids. He has now chosen charity Guide Dogs as the beneficiary of his participation in the London and Edinburgh Marathons.
“I did the London Marathon last year and had to walk the last mile. But this year, I got my training right and felt great, averaging a 10-minute mile,” said Steven, whose accumulated fundraising total is in five figures.
“Last year, I saw someone wearing a Guide Dogs running vest and decided there and then that I’d come back and run for them. I’m fortunate enough that I don’t need a guide dog, but everyone who has one sings their praises and I know how much support the charity gives to people.
“I ran in a Muttley costume from The Wacky Races. It was just something comical to give people a laugh. I woof-woofed my way round in 4:27.44 with great support from runners and spectators.
“Knowing people believe in causes I support gives me the motivation to keep going, even when my body is shattered and falling apart. I really would like to shake the hand of each person who has taken the time to hand over their cash, especially during these difficult times. I do not take it for granted and I’m sure that all at Guide Dogs feel the same.”
Despite running numerous marathons all over the world, the number of which a modest Steven keeps close to his chest, the Edinburgh event on Sunday will hold special significance, as it marks 20 years since his first brain haemorrhage. Although life has taken him on a rollercoaster of emotions, Steven’s outlook is now more positive and he refuses to allow his sight loss to define him.
“The dark clouds are never far away,” he concedes, “but I have a supportive family, including an amazing wife Lynn and daughter Laura, who have been there throughout to pick me up when I feel low. Now I have a beautiful granddaughter, Isla, who turns two in July and who fills me with even more joy.
“I’m really glad to be raising money for Guide Dogs. Sight loss is cruel. The people change around you and you can sometimes feel isolated or that those who remain around you don’t understand. But there are so many charities who can help in different ways and sight loss doesn’t have to mean a life of isolation and loneliness.
“There is still lots to be done to improve the world for everyone, so let’s start here and now. One person’s mile is another person’s marathon.”
Thanking Steven for choosing to support Guide Dogs, the charity’s regional community fundraising manager, Jo Stevenson said: “To do two marathons in the space of five weeks to raise funds is simply amazing – and add to that that Steven is a runner with a vision impairment, using only a long cane for assistance.
“Steven’s story of strength and resilience is remarkable and we’re sure it will inspire so many people.”
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