Every week, we will take a look at inspirational and motivational females throughout history as part of a campaign entitled #GirlsRunTheWorld from Life Style Sports. Why? Well because we do. Fuelled by strength and empowerment, the Life Style Sports ‘Girls Run the World’ campaign aims to support women in achieving their running and fitness goals in 2014 with the very best product range and free advice from the team of Life Style Sports Product Experts available in stores throughout the country.
Life Style Sports hope that the ‘Girls Run the World’ campaign will inspire women and with this in mind, we will feature inspirational women from Irish Olympic runner Fionnuala Britton to Hilary Clinton – these Girls Run The World and we want to celebrate them!
This week, we take a look at the inspirational Philomena Lee.
1. She overcame a personal crisis.
When she was just 18, Philomena fell pregnant with her first child but living as a single woman in Ireland at the time, she was sent to Tipperary’s Church-run Sean Ross Abbey where the nuns raised her child while she worked for them. When her boy was just three, he was taken away from Philomena without her agreement and adopted by a family. She never saw her son again.
2. She never gave up.
Despite all of the obstacles, Philomena never gave up looking for her son. She spent years trying to find the family who had adopted him, without the help of the nuns who would not release the information to her. However, Philomena also found out that her son had also tried to find her, which just makes their story all the more heartbreaking. Unfortunately, Philomena's son had passed away before she reached him.
3. She is incredibly kind...
Despite all of the things that happened in her life, Philomena never gave up being kind to others. Martin Sixsmith commented about the great lady: "Philomena is a remarkable woman, extraordinarily devoid of bitterness." Considering her life and the wrongs that have been done to her, this really is an achievement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rG3QP8foCvg
4. ...and giving!
Philomena has been on hand to help for the filming of the movie about her life, the brilliant
Philomena. She has been giving with her time, despite the fact that she is now 80 years of age. She has made numerous public appearances and supported the film as much as possible. What is particularly lovely is that she is obviously having a major effect on Hollywood, the stars all love her!
5. She has used her experience to help others.
As well as being giving with her time, Philomena has also sought to help others that have gone through the same circumstances as her. With the help of her daughter, she has set up the Philomena Project which is asking that women whose children were taken from them will be given access to their adoption records. She is now campaigning for the cause and at 80 years of age, there is no stopping her.
Whatever kind of training you are involved in, the Life Style Sports Product Experts (in stores nationwide) are on hand to ensure each customer selects the correct clothing and footwear to meet their individual needs, reducing risk of injury and achieving better results. Life Style Sports also offers customers a free Gait Analysis service in select stores which provides runners with an essential insight into their individual running styles. Customers can also find all the information they need on wearing the right technical apparel, including “Sports Bra Fitting Guides” and footwear while running or working out at “The Fitness Hub” on lifestylesports.com.