Last updated 05:34, Friday, 18 July 2008

AS the applause from the crowd echoed around the athletics stadium, Maria Morganella stepped on to the podium to receive her bronze medal.

Maria Morganella

Her legs were so weak and shaky they threatened to buckle, tiredness nearly overwhelmed her and she felt sick and dizzy – yet nothing could take away her delight as she touched the medal hanging round her neck.

The 28-year-old Border Harriers sprinter had just run the race of her life at the North of England Championships in Manchester even though she was forced settle for third place in the 100m.

Only 18 months earlier, just getting out of bed was a struggle, dressing herself and walking to the end of her street left her physically exhausted and mentally drained.

Depressed, anxious and fearing she would never be able to lead a normal life ever again, Maria had given up all thoughts of ever being able to continue her athletics career as the cruel, debilitating effects of chronic fatigue syndrome, more commonly known as ME, threatened to destroy her life.

“When I was standing on the podium at Manchester, it was like winning a gold medal at the Olympic Games,” said Maria.

“I’ve only ever won one medal during my career before so to win one after everything I’ve been through is just incredible.

“Every time I race, it’s like my personal battle with ME and a way of finding out what I can get out of my body.”

Maria admits she has had to rely on her strong personality and in-built determination to help pull her through the past two-and-a-half years which she describes as a living hell.

Her ordeal began when she started to feel unwell after competing for Border at an indoor meeting in December 2005, but she could never have imagined just how serious her health problems would become.

She thought she was simply suffering from a heavy cold which she’d shrug off in a few days, but the sore throat and other symptoms continued, and a fortnight later at a meeting in Glasgow, she could barely get out the starting blocks.

Finally she decided to go to her GP, who diagnosed chronic laryngitis and sent her to Carlisle’s Cumberland Infirmary for tests.

A benign growth the size of a large grape was discovered on her vocal chords and an operation to remove it left her needing months of speech therapy.

Yet still Maria felt run-down, weak and exhausted and was continually being signed off from her admin job with a firm of financial advisers in Carlisle.

By the spring of 2006, athletics was the last thing on her mind as she struggled to cope with severe headaches, poor vision, muscle cramps and tiredness so extreme she could barely get out of bed.

She recalled: “I couldn’t walk 50 metres without feeling out of breath. I was completely exhausted. There were some days I struggled to get up.

“I started losing my memory. I couldn’t retain any information. If I read something, I wouldn’t be able to tell you what it was about. I was really dizzy and suffering from severe exhaustion.” She was sent for a brain scan and blood tests, and began to fear she was seriously ill.

Finally, after weeks of anguish, her GP diagnosed she was suffering chronic fatigue syndrome, a condition which affects around 150,000 people in the UK, and for which there is no cure.

“It was just a relief to be told it was ME because at least I knew what it was. You start imagining all sorts,” she said. “When I had to have a brain scan, I was so scared that there might be something there.

“As for the athletics, I thought that was the end of it. I was 99.9 per cent certain in my own mind that I would never run again, but it was really the last thing on my mind as my health was at stake.

“I felt so numb that really it didn’t matter if I ever ran again.”

One of the major obstacles Maria was forced to deal with was other people’s perception of the poorly understood condition, dubbed yuppie flu.

It doesn’t go away with sleep, or rest, and affects everyday life, and it wasn’t long before depression and feelings of utter despair also swamped her.

She said: “You look fine on the outside, but inside you just feel dead. The nickname yuppie flu left the condition with a stigma.

“I was so low and terribly depressed as I couldn’t do anything. I had nothing to look forward to.

“Athletics had been my life but I was basically sitting around the house all day.

“I would walk into town with my mum, who would put me on a seat in the middle of town while she did her shopping. She would then come back for me and we would catch a bus home. That was the most I ever did.”

After six months, still feeling weak and exhausted, she returned to work for a couple of hours each day.

Then, in November 2006, came another turning point in her life when her great-aunt Ethel died, forcing Maria to see if she could resume her athletics career.

Maria, who lives in Carlisle, said: “She was an incredible lady, who I was very close to and it’s terrible to see someone you love dying. It was very distressing and just about sent me over the edge.

“After her death, I went to her house to help sort out her belongings and I found a load of clippings from The Cumberland News and the News & Star on my athletics career. She was so proud of me and I just felt that I couldn’t let my athletics go. I felt I owed it to her.”

Gradually, Maria has been able to rebuild her athletics career to the point where she won bronze in the 100m at last month’s North of England Championships.

She is even getting close to her personal best time of 12.1 seconds for the 100m and 24.99 seconds for the 200m.

While she still has a long, long way to go, Maria is at least able to go to Carlisle’s Sheepmount Stadium for a training run, and having something positive to focus on is helping her win her battle for health.

She said: “When I was at my worst, I could never have imagined ever getting a medal. No chance.

“If I hadn’t been the sort of determined character that I am I would have been in bed all day.

“I can’t give up. No matter how much is thrown at me, it makes me more determined.

“Athletics has kept me going. If it wasn’t for that I don’t know where I would be. I’m going to try to step things up and try to set a new PB in the 100m.

“If feel terrible for what I’ve put my parents through as I love them to bits. It’s not just me suffering, it’s them too as well and I know my illness has an impact on them. Without them I would be nothing.

“Everything I do is an effort. Some days I’m just so tired that I can’t make an effort so I only train when I’m up to it and I don’t set training schedules.

“If I go down to the Sheepmount I think ‘I’ve beaten ME today.’ I might be physically shattered afterwards but mentally I feel better.”

CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME – THE HARD FACTS

n Around 150,000 people in the UK suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome, more commonly known as ME.

n Anyone can get CFS, although it is more common in women than in men.

n It usually develops in the early twenties to mid-forties. Children can also be affected, usually between the ages of 13-15.

n The exact cause of CFS is unknown, although there are several theories. Some people think that a viral infection, such as glandular fever, can trigger the condition.

n In addition to fatigue, other symptoms are also common, including severe headaches, muscular and joint pain, poor memory and concentration, nausea, sore throat, intolerance to light, loud noise, alcohol and certain foods, and psychological problems, such as depression, irritability and panic attacks.

n There is no specific treatment for CFS. It tends to last for months, if not years, but most people do recover.