Tough Mum takes on mud run

A mum-of-two has been selected by ITV's Good Morning Britain to be put through a '˜Tough Mums' assault course after overcoming child loss and serious illness.
Tough Mum Kayleigh Boulton with sons Noah and Thomas. She will be running a 5K tough mudder event with 99 other mums for ITV's This Morning. EMN-160905-181519001Tough Mum Kayleigh Boulton with sons Noah and Thomas. She will be running a 5K tough mudder event with 99 other mums for ITV's This Morning. EMN-160905-181519001
Tough Mum Kayleigh Boulton with sons Noah and Thomas. She will be running a 5K tough mudder event with 99 other mums for ITV's This Morning. EMN-160905-181519001

Military wife Kayleigh Boulton, 30, from Greylees, has been chosen by the breakfast news show fronted by Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid to take part in the Tough Mums 5km tough mudder challenge on May 18 in the grounds of Belvoir Castle.

The veterinary nurse will be running with 99 other specially-selected mums, even though she had her gall bladder removed five weeks ago.

She says: “I applied on a whim having always wanted to do something like this.

“It all started in May 2014. I was pregnant with my second child and due to get married in four weeks. I went for my 20 week scan to find that my baby’s heartbeat had stopped.”

Despite having to deliver her dead child she found the strength to carry on and get married.

The following year son Noah was born, but this was not without complications.

Kayleigh said: “I had ICP choloeostasis during pregnancy – a complicated condition affecting the liver, with a high chance of still birth during pregnancy. I had severe hyperemesis (sickness and vomiting) like Kate Middleton had and was admitted to hospital on a drip six times, but continued to work full time.”

Noah was born at 37 weeks with a threat of parental abruption and three weeks afterwards the poor mum was rushed to hospital again, with pancreatitis due to the earlier sickness. More sickness in November eventually lead to the gall bladder removal.

She said on entering the ITV challenge: “I didn’t think I would be in with a chance, then I got a telephone call two days after having my gall bladder out, giving me six weeks to recover and get training.”

She and the 99 other ‘tough mums’ who have been through ordeals will tackle 10 obstacles, plus water and mud, live on ITV, after recording interviews about their ordeals.

Kayleigh said: “The last two years have been quite upsetting and very challenging. My older son Thomas is six and I still had him to look after and carry on as normal. My husband, Martin, had to take quite a lot of time off with the kids. It has been emotionally draining. Noah was one on Friday and hopefully that chapter is over. To be able to run with 100 other mums who have been through worse or similar things will be interesting to find out what they have been through, but will give me self confidence to do whatever I put my mind to.”

Kayleigh is running for the ICP charity, donate at: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/kayleighsherwin1