St George’s Community Hydrotherapy Pool E-Newsletter Issue 9 April 2014 In this issue: Saving The Pool User Profile: Gary Cllr Cereste’s Visit Family & Friends Test CLF Donations Manager’s Message Physio Exercise Contact Information The council cabinet agreed to keep the hydrotherapy pool open for a maximum of two years providing funding was found from elsewhere, in particular the NHS, and that it would not require capital investment during that period. Our Campaign To Save The Pool The campaign to save St George's has involved a great deal of hard work by many committed people. Users have written to their councillors, to their MPs and have spoken eloquently at meetings and to the media. There was also a memorable and wonderful response to our petition; we asked lead petitioner and pool user Trayce Smeeton to talk about her experience. " It started in January, which seems so long ago, when we received an email informing us that Peterborough Council planned to stop funding the hydrotherapy pool, with the intention of closing it at the end of March 2014. What a shock, then panic set in as we realized we only had until March 5th to change the council's mind. There was so much to do, so little time in which to do it and we did not know where to start. Luckily, as someone who has strong feelings on certain issues, I have signed petitions in the past and I remembered that some of these were created by a group called 38 Degrees. On 27th January I contacted them: they were brilliant - guiding me through the process of setting up and maintaining a petition and they are still following us, offering advice and support. The next part of the tale is where all of you, the users, families of users and Friends of St George's became so important as you rallied round, gathered signatures and shared emails. A big thank you goes out to each and every one of you for all of your hard work. On Monday 17th February, despite the freezing temperature, everyone who was available met in front of Peterborough Town Hall at 11am to present the petition to Councillor North. This asked for all councillors to, " Keep St George's open and fund it for the next two years or until alternative funding or provision was available". Whilst we were handing over the petition, which had 3,452 signatures, Jane and Trish continued to share information about St George's with passing shoppers and collect even more . At the same time Michelle, from Little Miracles, had some last minute additions making a final total of 3,611. Well done everyone. "
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St George’s Community Hydrotherapy Pool
E-Newsletter Issue 9
April 2014
In this issue:
Saving The Pool
User Profile: Gary
Cllr Cereste’s Visit
Family & Friends Test
CLF Donations
Manager’s Message
Physio Exercise
Contact Information
The council cabinet agreed to keep the hydrotherapy pool open for a maximum
of two years providing funding was found from elsewhere, in particular the
NHS, and that it would not require capital investment during that period.
Our Campaign To Save The Pool
The campaign to save St George's has involved a great deal of hard work by
many committed people. Users have written to their councillors, to their
MPs and have spoken eloquently at meetings and to the media. There was
also a memorable and wonderful response to our petition; we asked lead
petitioner and pool user Trayce Smeeton to talk about her experience.
" It started in January, which seems so
long ago, when we received an email
informing us that Peterborough Council
planned to stop funding the hydrotherapy
pool, with the intention of closing it at the
end of March 2014. What a shock, then
panic set in as we realized we only had until
March 5th to change the council's
mind. There was so much to do, so little
time in which to do it and we did not know where to start. Luckily, as someone who has strong
feelings on certain issues, I have signed petitions in the past and I remembered that some of
these were created by a group called 38 Degrees. On 27th January I contacted them: they were
brilliant - guiding me through the process of setting up and maintaining a petition and they are still
following us, offering advice and support. The next part of the tale is where all of you, the users,
families of users and Friends of St George's became so important as you rallied round, gathered
signatures and shared emails. A big thank you goes out to each and every one of you for all of your
hard work. On Monday 17th February, despite the freezing temperature, everyone who was
available met in front of Peterborough Town Hall at 11am to present the petition to Councillor
North. This asked for all councillors to, " Keep St George's open and fund it for the next two
years or until alternative funding or provision was available". Whilst we were handing over the
petition, which had 3,452 signatures, Jane and Trish continued to share information about St
George's with passing shoppers and collect even more . At the same time Michelle, from Little
Miracles, had some last minute additions making a final total of 3,611. Well done everyone. "
On Sunday 13th July 2008, Gary Owen’s life was
quite literally shattered. The 42-year-old long
distance HGV driver from Peterborough was working
on the Olympics project in London at the time.
However, on 13th he was riding home on his Aprilia
RSV 1000 Tuono from Mallory Park, when he was
involved in a high-speed crash.
Paramedics rushed him to Coventry Hospital where
he remained unconscious for three days. Gary had
sustained a number of serious injuries, especially to
his left leg, which had four open fractures below the
knee and one above. He also sustained extensive skin loss to his right thigh.
The fracture to the bone above his knee (the femur) was pinned and plated, but the open wound
breaks below (the tibia) were so severe and complex that an external fixator was required.
Around 50% of his right thigh needed skin grafts. Gary remained hospital for four weeks.
There then followed six months of rehabilitation at
home in Peterborough. Unfortunately, at the end of
this it was found that none of the bones had joined –
called a nonunion.
Gary was therefore fitted with a new external
fixator, which he wore for a year.
A year and a half after his accident, Gary’s skin grafts
had largely healed. However, the fractures in his left
leg were still only showing signs of some initial healing.
They were not correctly aligned either. Gary has type 2 diabetes, which can delay and make
healing more difficult. It was therefore decided to remove the fixator for six months to see if
this would encourage healing.
There then followed two years of various leg casts, trips to orthopaedic specialists in Sheffield
and Peterborough and extensive physiotherapy. At the end of this, the plate in the upper half of
Gary’s left leg was removed and the femur was re-pinned. More walking to improve the strength
and circulation in the left leg to aid healing was prescribed, but this was without effect.
Finally, in December 2012 Gary was referred to Addenbrooke’s Hospital.
It was then found Gary’s attempts at walking might have actually been aggravating the problem, as
his bones were still soft and unhealed. Gary was given three choices:
1. To have an amputation above the knee
2. To have a full knee replacement that would give him half his original range of knee movement
back. This, however, was a risky option because it involved a site where there had previously been
an infection. Any reoccurrence of this could lead to full leg amputation
3. To clean out the knee and to insert a solid rod running from his hip to his ankle
Reasons To Keep The Pool Open: Gary’s Story
The Friends of St George’s turn a new page
The Friends are delighted to announce that we have our own Facebook page! It is
a great way to keep up to date with what is going on at St George’s and to have
your say on all our ongoing projects. We have many pictures, links our recent appearances
in the Peterborough Telegraph and on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, as well as all the details
of the progress of the “Save St George’s” campaign. Why not ‘Like’ our page?