his wasn ’ t supposed to happen to AJ Calitz ... In February , the current SA Ultra Distance Trail Champion won the three-day Tankwa Trail event , and then in March he teamed up with fellow K-Way athlete Nicolette Griffioen to win the mixed category of the three-day Cell C AfricanX Trailrun , to go with three wins in the men ’ s category in previous years . Just after that he set the fastest lap time in the Platteklip Charity Challenge on Table Mountain , even

though he was taking it relatively easy in the event where he set a World Record of 15 ascents totalling 10,250m in 12 hours a few years ago . Then on 8 April he lined up for the Impi Challenge obstacle race near Stellenbosch , determined to use his running fitness to full advantage on the demanding course that snakes around various wine farms .

He went on to cross the finish line first , thinking he had won the race , but it turned out that a navigational error had seen him miss one of the obstacles , and thus he was not given the win . Disappointed but still having enjoyed the challenge , AJ headed home to be with his family for his daughter Emilie ’ s birthday party that afternoon . “ I felt tired after the Impi , which was not unusual , but that afternoon I climbed on the trampoline to jump with my daughter , and suddenly I blacked out ,” says AJ . “ When I came to , it felt like my one eye had gone sideways , but my wife said both my eyes had actually split apart . I told Paulette I was not feeling well and went to lie down , but when I woke up I was still not feeling right . She was getting worried and phoned friends for advice , and they all said go to hospital . I was booked into the neurology section , and they told Paulette I had just suffered a full stroke !”

The doctors came to the conclusion that during the Impi , when AJ was carrying various heavy objects on his shoulders , the strain on his neck caused a tear in an artery that feeds into the thalamus in the centre of the brain . The thalamus controls sensory input and motor skills , as well as the regulation of consciousness and sleep . When you tear a vein or artery , a blood clot forms , and jumping on the trampoline that afternoon dislodged the clot , which then got stuck in

AJ ’ s thalamus , causing the stroke . “ It turns out that carrying a brick on your head , a 50kg bag of sand , and then jumping on a trampoline is not good for you ... who would have thought ?”

BOUNCING BACK QUICKLY

AJ spent three days in ICU , and at first he was not allowed to walk much , as he still had crossed eyes . “ My perception was my eyes were fine , but they were actually pointing outwards , and that affected my coordination badly . When I did start walking again , I had to do it with a pram for the first week , and soon I was going crazy . I was so fit , and building up to my overseas racing season , and as I told my coach and physio , Christoff Smit , I felt like a penned down race horse ! He told me to try running slowly , making sure my heart rate did not exceed 100 or 110 , but just putting on my shoes and standing up put me over the limit at first !” The neurologist also grudgingly gave AJ the all-clear to start running again slowly , but warned that the long-term loss of co-ordination , peripheral vision and short-term memory will stay with him , because 1.5cm of his thalamus is now dead .

Another reason AJ was raring to get back into action was that he had qualified for the international finals in Germany of the global Fisherman ’ s Friend Strongman Run obstacle race series . In September 2016 he had won the inaugural South African leg in Paarl , organised by well-known television personality Ferdinand Rabie , but the finals in Nuremburg were scheduled just six weeks after his stroke . “ I felt OK after a few good training sessions , and the trip was already paid for , so even though the neurologist said he was not keen , he said OK , go and take part , but don ’ t race . They

Images : K-Way , Oakpics & Tobias Ginsberg