A BRAVE Menstrie woman is continuing her recovery after she was struck down with a devastating attack of bacterial meningitis one year ago.

Lynne McGregor was hospitalised for five weeks as a result the New Year’s Day incident, and was left deaf, unable to walk and with damage to her eye sight.

It was later found that she had suffered a stroke, followed by the rapid onset of the meningitis infection.

For the health-enthusiast, who would run 26 miles a week and attend insanity workout classes almost every day, the impact was crushing.

However, determined to reclaim her life, she set herself a mammoth challenge of completing a four-mile run on the six-month anniversary of her stroke.

She also took sponsors and in the end was able to raise more than £5,000 which was split between the Meningitis Research and The Stroke Association charities.

And with a year having passed since her illness started, Lynne admits there is still a long road to recovery ahead. But not fazed by the task, the 48-year-old has also set herself another major target for later this year.

She told the Advertiser: “Since my charity run on July 1, there has been continued improvement, thankfully. I still exercise every day for at least an hour, working on my legs mostly to try and improve my walking. Lots of squats and, lunges, while holding onto something.

“I drew a big noughts and crosses table on the floor with duct tape and practice stepping between the boxes to try and improve my balance.

“Unfortunately, my hearing hasn’t improved and I am still essentially deaf. I have also been diagnosed with arachnoiditis. This is basically a spinal cord injury.

“The meningitis bacteria travelled from my brain and ate the protective membrane surrounding the spinal cord. It means I am constantly in chronic pain, unfortunately there is no cure.”

On a more positive note, Lynne says she is looking forward to full weeks at work, and will be aiming to tackle an uphill walking marathon in June.

She added: “I have been steadily increasing my time at work and, as of January 9, I start back full-time. This is both exciting and daunting. I will be driving myself two days and my husband will take me the other three.

“I can’t wait until January 11 when I start my referral rehab in the gym organised by Clackmannanshire Sports Development team. This is such a big psychological step. I still have problems walking straight, but do believe I am getting better. I really can’t cope with big meetings at work, my deafness makes it very difficult, any more than four or five people and I can’t follow the conversation.

“I also get tired and my speech is affected so I can’t get the words out that I want to say. I am working on all these areas and I am so lucky to have great employers in North Lanarkshire Leisure and they are very patient with me. My next challenge is the Macmillan Loch Lomond Mighty Hike on June 3 – a 26-mile walk.

“Hey, you’ve got to have a goal to aim for, right?”