mum gears up as fighter

A mother-of-three who a year-and-a-half ago was so ill she could not even get out of bed has told how she is now gearing up to be a cage fighter after finding a new lease of life.

Mary Craske, 40, from North Walsham who has suffered with ME, which causes chronic fatigue, fell drastically ill a year-and-a-half ago after her mother died, and needed round-the-clock care.

She said: 'I think it was a combination of everything, my body just shut down. I was bedridden and in the end I could not talk or walk or move a muscle.

'I remember hearing carers coming into the room and I remember hearing things, but I just could not communicate with people. I was told I was dying, I was just wasting away.'

She was bed-bound for around eight months until she was offered 'lightning process' treatment – a programme designed by osteopath Phil Parker, which claims to help suffers of ME by teaching people exercises to stop the brain releasing so much adrenaline, which is believed to trigger ME.

Ms Craske, who has three children ranging in age from 16 to nine-years-old, says the process worked for her and within three days of treatment she was able to walk downstairs. She also started physiotherapy sessions as well, starting out with light exercises on an exercise bike and with weights.

She then moved onto going to the gym and from there has taken on an even bigger challenge – becoming a female cage fighter.

'I did judo as a child, and after the illness my self-confidence was low and I had low self esteem, I wanted to do something to build me up and build up my confidence again,' she added.

Through mutual friends she started speaking a London cage fighter, Erik Lloyd who encouraged her to go ahead with finding out about Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), popularly known as cage fighting.

She first took up the sport at the