Derbyshire woman with cerebral palsy – who doctors said would not live – raises £2,000 after charity challenge

Jo Spray, who works at CPL Distribution in Killamarsh, was born with cerebral palsy.

Doctors thought she would die as a newborn and said she would be wheelchair-bound as a teenager – but she has continued to defy their expectations.

“I was born with Cerebral Palsy and I was born not breathing. The doctors didn’t think me or my mum were going to live,” she said.

“I’ve had a lot of hospital treatments and therapies to help lengthen my muscles over the years – I didn’t walk or stand until I was around five-years-old.

“Exercise has always been a big part of my life – if I didn’t do anything, my muscles would seize up and I’d get worse. They did think that by the time I was a teenager I’d be in a wheelchair, but I joined a gym and have always been very positive and not let anything stop me.”

At the start of the year, Jo decided to do a 2km row, 20km exercise bike ride and two minute resistance circuit – representing the year 2022.

After chatting to her manager, Claire DeMico, they decided to complete the challenge together.

She said: “It went well, although we were scared it might be a really hot day. We got the bikes out of the way first as that was always going to be the hardest part, so we thought we’d do that while we had our energy – we ended up completing the challenge a lot faster than any of our training times.”

The pair raised £1973.63 overall – with £1059.50 going to Ashgate Hospice and £914.13 to the Snowdrop Project – a charity that supports victims of human trafficking and modern slavery.

Jo added: “CPL already support Snowdrop, so we chose them, and we went with Ashgate because I’ve had friends and two aunties pass away from cancer. Neither of them went into Ashgate themselves, but a lot of friends’ families have been helped there and cancer touches a lot of people.”

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Claire said that she – and everyone else at CPL – were proud of Jo’s achievements.

She added: “Jo has worked for me for almost 12 years. She is such an inspirational young lady and is an asset to the team and thought very highly of by everyone at the business.

“When she asked me to do the challenge with her I was more than happy to take part even though the gym isn’t my thing. We trained at Nuffield many times a week for months in preparation for the challenge.

“The day did not disappoint as friends, family and colleagues all came to support us. Jo was so focused that we finished the challenge nearly 30 minutes quicker than our predicted time. Jo is not only an employee – she is my friend and a truly inspirational individual, who we are all very privileged to have in our lives.”