Running has proven to be the best medicine to help Michelle Playle cope with the overwhelming grief of losing her 53-year-old mum to a sudden heart attack.
The loss of her mum one year after her wedding came as a ‘complete shock’ when she had been no pre-existing heart problems.
Using running as a way to help cope, Mrs Playle said she was participating in the third HBF Run for a Reason on May 27 in Perth to remember her mother Jocelyn Beard.
“Initially, I was not doing well with my grief, but running in this event has enabled me to focus on my mother and what she meant to me.
“Also, training hard means I’m tired and getting more sleep and I’m hungry and eating more. So, it’s helping me get my life back to normal,” Mrs Playle said.
The 27-year-old Bunbury Commonwealth Bank worker said she would be running in the Commonwealth Bank 4km run.
“I’ve worked out it’s exactly 4km from my house to my Mum’s grave and that’s the distance I am running in the HBF event. So it seems it was meant to be,” she said.
Mrs Playle said her mum was her best friend and they would often go to the gym together.
“My mum was my best friend, we would talk on the phone almost every day. I have been known to ditch my girlfriends to hang out with her,” she said.
The pair started on a health kick, eating healthier and limiting their alcohol intake before she had the attack.
Mrs Playle said she wished they only started sooner.
“I am now running for the Heart Foundation in the HBF Run for a Reason because I want people to be aware that simple actions every day could improve your heart and hopefully make a difference.
“I want to raise awareness and help stop others from experiencing the heartache of losing a mother,” she said.
If you are inactive, you are almost twice as likely to suffer coronary heart disease, compared to those who get enough exercise, according to Heart Research Australia.
Cardiovascular disease kills one Australian every 12 minutes and although heart disease is slightly higher in men, it kills three times more Australian women than breast cancer, according to Live Lighter.
If Mrs Playle ever finds the Collie cemetery empty on her runs she stops to have a quick chat to her mum.
“I talk to Mum all the time in my head but when I run to her grave, and there are not many people around, then I will talk to her out loud.
“I stir her and tell her off and say ‘Thanks for leaving me – so rude’. She would have found that funny and got a laugh out of that,” She said.
