Wheelchair user races to success (From Times Series)

Lerona-Jayne Goldberg completes half marathon in aid of United Jewish Israel Appeal

2:32pm Tuesday 19th March 2013 in News By Natalie O'Neill

Cheered on by family and friends, a wheelchair user has completed her first ever half-marathon - raising £6,000 for charity as she did so.

Lerona-Jayne Goldberg suffered a spinal cord injury during a car crash when she was just five, meaning she would have to spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair.

But never one to let anything hold her back, the 30-year-old was determined to complete the 13.1-mile race to raise money for United Jewish Israel Appeal (UJIA), the charity she has worked for for seven years.

Mrs Goldberg of Frith Lane, Mill Hill East, said: “I’m not really into exercise but I made it my New Year’s resolution to keep fit and do something different.

“I was going to the gym four times a week. It was hard work but I wanted to do it for the charity – it’s very close to my heart.

"I've been involved in their programmes since I was just ten years old - I think I was the first person they had enrolling in a wheelchair but they made everything accessible for me.

“UJIA not only organises informal educational tours to Israel for young adults but it does a lot of work helping very poor regions in the north of Israel.”

Mrs Goldberg completed her half-marathon in three hours in Regents Park on Sunday and raised £6,000 for the charity which will be doubled by an anonymous donor.

Mrs Goldberg said: “Although it was physically tough I put that to the back of my mind and carried on. My arms and shoulders were hurting by the end but it was an amazing achievement.”

To make a donation to Mrs Goldberg’s appeal click here.