Stepping Hill Hospital has been helping to keep a top athlete in top form thanks to its hydrotherapy pool.

Paralympic gold medallist Matt Walker MBE has been receiving hydrotherapy sessions from a therapy at the hospital's pool in recent months following an arm injury last year.

Matt, from Marple, has been one of the country's top Paralympic swimmers, having competed in four Paralympic Games starting at the 2000 games in Sydney, and winning a total of twelve medals over the years.

He retired from competitive swimming in 2015 when his daughter Grace was born, but he has still been a regular in the pool since then as a coach to Masters, FE and junior swimmers.

Matt has cerebral palsy, and is a champion of getting disabled people into swimming with the Matt Walker MBE Disability Swim Academy and Cerebral Palsy Sport. He has coached swimmers who have swam internationally, nationally and regionally.

Matt's Sydney gold medal up close (Image - Stockport NHSFT)

Unfortunately, while holidaying in Cornwall last summer, Matt fell and suffered a severe fracture in his arm. "After all my years in professional sports this was the first time I'd ever suffered an injury!" said Matt. "It was very serious and I had to have an emergency operation at a hospital in Cornwall. At one point there was a chance of me losing use of the arm altogether, but thankfully they started me on the route to recovery."

Since then he has been receiving physiotherapy at his local Stepping Hill Hospital, with weekly sessions in its hydrotherapy pool.

Up to 200 patients a week, including both adults and children, are supported by therapy teams with the aid of the hydrotherapy pool, helping them to manage their conditions. As well as post fracture and post-operative patients such as Matt, the team also supports those with conditions such as frozen shoulders, and mobility and balance issues.

Matt said "The care I've been having from Andrew, Xav and the team in the pool has been absolutely amazing. It's a highlight of the week! I can do so much more in the water than I can outside it. It's really helped me to start moving my arm again."

When Matt started swimming as part of his physiotherapy as a child, he used to hate it. In time though, he it led him to develop his swimming so well that he became a professional. Now he is back in the pool once more as therapy he can see and feel the benefits much more easily. "They have a really relaxed and supportive way of working here in the hydrotherapy team, and its just a really good environment in which to recover. I'm really pleased to have been one of the people they have helped."

Matt still has a number of months to go before he will be able to swim like before, but as with many other patients, the hydrotherapy team are pleased they can play a key part in the recovery. 

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