In 2019 all Pamela Janse van Vuuren wanted to do for her birthday was parkrun with her Mom. Sounds easy right? That’s where you are wrong!
My Mom was suffering from end-stage COPD, a debilitating lung disease (she passed away in March 2020). She was, by now, wheelchair bound, especially when going out and about.
It was a cool morning on the 20 July 2019, and Mom was eager to do parkrun with me. I chose North Beach parkrun, in Durban and let me tell you, you may think it is flat but there are definitely uphills on the route! I pushed Mom in her wheelchair the entire 5k, and I did it in quite a good time.
She loved every second of it, her eyes were sparkling and skin glowing when we got to the finish line. Mom ‘ran’ parkrun with me and I was honored to be the wind beneath her wings.
This is my favorite parkrun memory.
Pamela Janse van Vuuren
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