Sports Webster is a keen runner, triathlete, and boxer, training at the Lynn ABC, and has completed her level 2
Football Association coaching badge. She has run sixteen marathons, including the London,
New York,
Singapore and
Houston Marathons. In July 2015, she completed her first
Ironman Triathlon in 15 hours, 8 minutes and 59 seconds. She completed the Staffordshire 70.3 Ironman five weeks before in June 2015 as preparation in 6 hours 20 minutes. In October 2019, Webster completed her third Ironman Triathlon (70.3) in Marrakesh, with a record of 7:34:20.
Charity work Webster is known for her charity work, especially for causes related to domestic violence, mental health, and sports. She has been an ambassador for Women's Aid since 2010 In 2014, Webster embarked on a , seven day run between 40 football grounds for the charity which won her the 2014 Running Awards Runners' Challenge. On 15 January 2014, in interview with
BBC Radio 5 Live's
Phil Williams, she revealed that aged 15 she had been groomed and sexually abused by her running coach. The man was later sentenced to 10 years in jail and put on the
sex offender registry, after another younger girl recorded the abuse and contacted police. Choosing to waive her right to anonymity to go public with the revelations to "break the taboo about abuse as a whole". Webster stated:
Illness In 2016, she embarked on a 3,000-mile bike ride from
London to
Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, to raise money for the
Jane Tomlinson Appeal. The ride was challenging and exhausting, but she completed it successfully and arrived in Rio just in time for the Olympic opening ceremony. However, her joy was short-lived as she soon fell ill with a rare and severe form of
malaria that she had contracted during the bike ride. She was rushed to a hospital in Rio, where she was put into a
medically induced coma and was put on
life support. Her condition was critical and she was given only 24 hours to live. Against all odds, she survived the ordeal and woke up from the coma after two weeks. She had to undergo multiple
blood transfusions and
dialysis to recover from the damage caused by the infection. She also suffered from
post-traumatic stress disorder and
memory loss as a result of her
near-death experience. She spent six weeks in hospital before she was able to return to the UK. She has since become an advocate for malaria prevention and awareness, and has visited
Uganda with the charity
Malaria No More to see the impact of the disease first-hand. She has also resumed her cycling and broadcasting career, and has shared her story through the podcast,
Died and Survived. ==References==