Quadriplegic dad to take on 10k after MS diagnosis

Will Howell, left, will be pushed by Sam Fugill in a wheelchair designed by Stephan Couture, right

A quadriplegic man is taking on the York 10k on Sunday in a specially designed running wheelchair.

Will Howell, from Harrogate, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2021, three years after he first began to notice symptoms.

He will be taking part in the race alongside his friends Sam Fugill and Jane Evans, who will push the chair, his son Jonah and a support group of more than 30 people.

He said he was "super excited" ahead of the race, having never done anything like it before.

"It's going to be quite an emotional event for me because it's liberating, you spend a lot of time when you're disabled quite isolated," he said.

"You're on your own, you're in your own space, you get those days which are hard, monotonous and become quite dark on occasion, but I just keep trying to fight, keep positive and doing these kind of things helps keep you motivated. So I'm super excited."

Mr Howell's wheelchair has been supplied by runner and fundraiser Stephan Couture, from Warwickshire, who first developed the chair for his daughter Chloe, who has cerebral palsy.

Together the father and daughter have raised thousands of pounds for charity, taking part in marathons and runs from Barbados to Norway.

Mr Couture, who is currently working on his fourth running wheelchair, first heard about Mr Howell's need after running the Berlin Marathon for MS-UK.

He said: "Will was trying to get some help to do an event. So MS-UK rang me and said, could you help? I said, I can't promise anything, but I'll go and meet Will.

"So I went up to meet Will and his wife, Helen. I had a wonderful chat, had lunch with them, showed them the chair. And we came up with a plan and we think it'll work."

Mr Couture is also running the York 10k alongside Mr Howell and his team.

Stephan Couture has run hundreds of races with his disabled daughter Chloe in a specially adapted wheelchair

The chairs cost thousands of pounds and are created using frames from Canada, wheels from the US, seats and harnesses from the Midlands and brakes from Barnoldswick.

Mr Howell said Sam and Jane had never run with a wheelchair before, but luckily the York 10k course is flat and paved.

"They are absolute amateurs," he said. "Stephan came up and my wife got in the chair because I need hoisting, so he pushed my wife about 10m, nearly tipped her out running. So it's going to be quite funny.

"Sam and Jane are both fell runners. So they're fit people. But when it comes to the chair, there's a bit of an unknown."

Mr Couture said the chair was designed to cope with extremes, and has even been up Ben Nevis and across a Norwegian frozen lake at -16 degrees.

"Chloe and I have done some crazy things," he said.

"It's made a huge difference to Will to help him with the York 10k. He's really excited about it."

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