Apr. 15--HAMPSTEAD -- At 62, Paul Dane is taking a giant step toward recovering from a stroke he suffered seven years ago.
Dane is training for the Vermont City Marathon, scheduled for May 24, in Burlington. He will walk two to three miles of the 26.2-mile course to benefit the American Stroke Association. The rest of his team, wife, Judy, and three of his therapists, will walk the other legs of the race, but they want him to cross the finish line.
That will be a giant step for the former aeronautical engineer, who was initially paralyzed on his right side and unable to walk at all, his wife said.
To raise money for the walk, the Danes raffled off gift baskets and held yard sales. They hope to raise $5,800.
Their team is called the Great Danes.
Dane started the training slowly by walking around the neighborhood, but he has been building up his strength and stamina, his wife said.
"Paul walks right now up to one and a half miles in 45 minutes," Judy Dane said. "When he first started, he couldn't keep up the pace."
The team has to finish the marathon in six hours, she said.
Dane, who has set up a computer show about the team and the marathon, joked they have assigned their youngest marathoner to the toughest part of the course.
His speech therapists, Liz Hoover of Boston University and Laura Glufing-Tham of Emerson College, and his physical therapist, Anne McCarthy-Jacobson of Massachusetts General Hospital, also are on the team.
The course starts downtown and moves into neighborhoods, then passes through woods and up hills.
Dane is still battling aphasia, a communications disorder brought on by stroke. His intelligence was not affected, but he has difficulty speaking.
Dane was on a flight to Norway when he was stricken. His wife, who was on the plane with him, recognized the symptoms and called for a doctor. The airline landed in Milan, Italy, so Dane could be seen at a hospital, but he suffered complications. Ultimately, he underwent surgery in Geneva, Switzerland, before returning to the United States for extensive therapy.
"Paul was determined to walk again," his wife said.
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