Told She'd Never Walk Again at 18 - Now She's Running the Entire Length of the UK

What the Health

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Wednesday, 6 May 2026 - 55 minutes

At just 18 years old, on the cusp of a professional dance career, Esmee Gummer was told she would never walk again. This week on What the Health?! with Claira Hermet, she joins us in the studio to talk about everything that came after that moment - the dark days, the mental battle that was harder than any physical challenge, the resentment and jealousy nobody talks about when everyone else's life carries on without you, and the moment fitness stopped being something she had lost and became the thing that was putting her back together.She also talks about SAS: Who Dares Wins, where she completed every single challenge, and what that experience taught her about what she's actually made of.But the reason you really need to hear this episode right now is what's coming this summer. Esmée is about to run the entire length of the UK (roughly 5,000 kilometres across 77 cities in just 99 days) and in every single city she stops in, she's hosting a free 5K event open to absolutely everyone. No entry fee. No fitness level required. Just people moving together. Her mission is to get one million people moving, and the way she's doing it is as extraordinary as the story that got her here. She also gets refreshingly honest about the specific challenges of taking on something this monumental as a woman - periods, mental load, physical differences - and why she refused to just quietly get on with it and pretend those things don't exist.The Nation's 5K kicks off on 27 June. Find your city, show up, and be part of it.

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