Hastings man makes marathon comeback after double stroke

Stroke survivor Russell Engelke, with his wife Ruth by his side, is about to make a marathon milestone in his recovery journey. Photo / Supplied

Playing a weekend touch game almost ended it all for Russell Engelke, and now he is taking it all back.

The Hastings man is hitting milestone after milestone on his road to recovery after his double stroke and is ready to take on a marathon.

Before the accident, Engelke was no stranger to long-distance events, previously running several marathons and ultramarathons and once completing 21 half marathons in one year.

Since the stroke, taking on a killer 21.1km at the New Zealand Sotheby's International Realty Hawke's Bay Marathon could be his most formidable challenge.

While playing a touch game 16 months ago, a split-second decision to make a try-saving dive sent Engelke sprawling headfirst into a fence post.

The collision tore the vertebral artery in his neck, causing internal bleeding and immediate clotting that triggered a stroke.

"I had to make a decision, do I go for a full-body dive and while sprinting to try to ankle tap a guy and save a try-winning moment or do I play it safe," says Engelke.

"And of course, I went for it, I ankle tapped the guy and we both rolled, and I went head over heels a few times and headfirst into a fence post, which was not ideal at that age, 50 at the time."

It was touch and go for a while; no one was sure how he'd come out of the accident.

Engelke was given a CT scan and put on blood thinners, which stabilised his situation, and he was sent home a few days later.

Once at home, he suffered a follow-up stroke called a transient ischemic attack (TIA) which was unfortunately far worse than the initial one.

"With the TIA, for a day I sat in a wheelchair in the Emergency Department with a drooped mouth and eyes that were unable to focus, an unpleasant prospect for the future," Engelke said.

An MRI confirmed the runner had suffered significant trauma associated with his type of head injury, known as a vertebral artery dissection (VAD).

After the second stroke, Engelke embarked on a long road to recovery, following his neurologist and doctor's steady return to work and exercise plan.

He now has to take blood thinners for the rest of his life and needs to go easy on himself for the first year as he had a significant, life-threatening head injury.

A phased return to work process was set up at first 12 hours, then 20 hours, 32 hours, and finally back up to 40 hours a week.

And he is now back to 40 hours a week and is exercising again.

On his road to recovery Engelke and his wife walked the Tongariro Alpine Crossing about a month ago.

"It's just part of getting back and taking small incremental steps to recovery," he said.

Now hitting another milestone on his recovery journey on May 14, Engelke will walk the La Roche Posay Half Marathon course at the Hawke's Bay Marathon with Ruth.

The father of six is excited to be involved in another event and he hopes to share it with his children some day in the future.

"I just want to share that side of life because I've been fortunate to compete in running, swimming, cycling, kayaking events," he said.

The runner said he would honestly be thrilled to get across the finish line.

The Hawke's Bay Marathon is another bucket list item to tick off for Engelke.

"In the context of what I have done before, it's small fry, but it's a currently significant milestone at this point in time for me.

"It will help me feel a little bit more normal."