Riona Kelly had only been in the hospital for five days when her husband decided to dump her after her stroke.
Now, not only was she paralyzed but her marriage was also over.
She probably didn’t realize it at the time, but her divorce would work out in her favor because now she’s in love with her super hot younger trainer who loves her despite her physical struggles.
The 37-year-old from Halifax, Yorkshire, which is north of London, had a spinal stroke in 2015 that may have been caused by a previous car accident. The stroke left her paralyzed from the waist down.
Thankfully, she still had her friend Sarah and her four children Leighanra, 16, Caleb 11, Izabela, 9, and Logan, 5 to help her through the tough time.
“It was the time I needed my husband the most,” Kelly told The Sun. “Looking back I was miserable in my marriage, but we had built a life together and had responsibilities.”
Kelly’s doctor’s told her that she might never walk again and had to get used to using a wheelchair to get around.
“If someone had given me the choice I would have ended my life, I didn’t want to live anymore,” she admits.
But Kelly didn’t give up there. She endured hours of physiotherapy and eventually took her first steps on a parallel bar.
“My consultant was very emotional, he couldn’t believe I had done it with the help of a standing frame,” she says. “Everyday I built up my strength and after four months in the hospital I was finally allowed to go home.”
She said she was determined to push forward for her children. Soon thereafter, Kelly met a personal trainer named Keith Mason, 35.
“After our sessions, Keith and I stayed in contact, he would ask me how I was getting on and our relationship blossomed from there,” she explains. “We have now been together for 11 months, the children really like him and I finally feel like I’m living the life I deserve.”
Now Kelly only needs her wheelchair for long distances and can walk without assistance.
“I’m now back in the gym, and with Keith’s help I’m getting better and stronger than ever.”
Even though she no longer needs help walking, she says the experience has taught her a lot.
“I used to struggle excepting help but now I welcome it as it helps me to keep moving forward,” she wrote on Instagram. “We can’t always do everything on our own with no help and support. Being the bigger and stronger person is to admit when we need help and except it off of the right people.”
Kelly’s ex-husband Richard did respond to The Sun in his defense.
“I told Riona I wanted a divorce the morning before her stroke, not whilst she was in the hospital,” he said. “I lived in the house with Riona and the kids until last June before I eventually move out, and we have now both moved on.”
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