Gym instructor Jude does race in wheelchair cheered on by new wife

Jude Caunter, right, with friend Mel Spiers

Jude, who is disabled and uses a wheelchair, was cheered on by her new wife Jeanie McKinsey.

The pair got married on Friday at Portsmouth Registry Office, with a party held at the John Pounds Centre on Saturday.

Jude, 51, from Farlington took part in the race with her pal Mel Spiers to raise cash and awareness for the Cavernoma Alliance UK – a charity that supports people affected by cerebral cavernomous malformations.

Jude said: ‘It was a totally awesome experience and I’m definitely going to do it again next year. Everyone was shouting and cheering me on. It has been a jam-packed weekend.’

Jeanie, 63, said she was proud of Jude and happy.

‘We’re both exhausted and very happy. We had a beautiful ceremony, I couldn’t have asked for anything better,’ she said.

Jude suffered her first bleed in her spine due to the condition in 1987. This left her in hospital for five weeks.

In 2008, Jude was diagnosed with cavernoma and she had an operation which left her in a wheelchair, with spasticity in her legs. After struggling to find work, she found a new lease of life when she took up a job as a gym instructor at the John Pounds Centre in Portsea, under the InstructAbility Programme, which makes gyms more accessible to disabled people.