27-04-2025
I didn't think I'd walk again after waiting two hours for an ambulance, but something extraordinary happened
I didn't think I'd walk again after waiting two hours for an ambulance, but something extraordinary happened
Teacher Dewi Jones, who had to learn to walk again after an accident, is running the London Marathon
(Image: Dewi Jones )
A teacher who had to learn to walk again after an accident at home is running this weekend's London Marathon. Dewi Jones from Cardiff fell 15 feet from a ladder while painting the front of his house in Cardiff. He fractured the ball of his femur, smashed up his wrist and it was a slow and painful recovery with "many dark times".
He said: ' I was painting the outside of my house in Cardiff with a friend and was on a ladder at the first floor window - the ladder was on the deck and slipped and I came down 15 feet. I should have wedged the ladder in place.
"I landed on my right foot and you could see the bone on my right shin. I broke the ball on the end of my femur - so I broke my hip. It was awful. I was trying to get an ambulance for two and a half hours. I was just lying on the deck." For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here
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Dewi has always been a runner and wanted to get back to it as soon as he could after his accident in 2017
Dewi smashed his left wrist in the fall too and was in a considerable amount of pain while his friend Mike Flemming, who was painting with him, called for an ambulance to take him to the University Hospital of Wales.
Eight years after his accident and at the age of 57, Dewi is aiming to complete the London Marathon in under four hours.
"I had a series of operations and was really worried I would never walk again because I could not put any weight on it at first. These things take such a long time and I had a lot of dark times - you don't know what will happen."
Dewi, who is head of the secondary computing and design technology faculty at Abertillery, 3-16 Learning Community, had two major surgeries to repair his hip and wrist.
He was then "back and fro" for more surgeries and visits to the fracture clinic and physiotherapists and couldn't even begin to try to walk again for six weeks.
"I had to learn to walk again and was back and forth to the hospital after surgery. It was one step at a time"
"I am good now but there will always be a weakness there. I had to sit and wait for it to heal before I could put pressure on it again and that took six weeks.
'It was a pretty nasty recovery. I had to go through the whole process of learning to walk again and it was slow. I was on crutches for a long time.
"I have always run and when I was able to start running again, I must have looked comical because I still had a bad limp. But I kept going and gradually built my strength again.
'My limp improved the more I ran and in 2019 I joined a team of four runners to tackle the Classic Quarter in Cornwall, a 44-mile endurance run along the South West Coast Path from the Lizard to Lands End."
The Brighton Marathon followed a few months later and now Dewi is heading to the London Marathon.
"I've been within four seconds of four hours previously so I'm feeling confident of hitting my target. I will just be making sure I keep away from ladders now."
Dewi , who has decided to get decorators in the next time his house needs paining, has has already raised more than £2,000 for Barnardo's Cymru and hopes to raise more on Saturday.
He said: " I see first hand the importance of giving every child the opportunity to succeed, no matter their background. I am running the London Marathon to raise money for Barnardo's because they work tirelessly to support vulnerable children who face challenges like poverty, neglect, and mental health issues.
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Contrbutions to Dewi's fundraising for Barnardo's can be made here
