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A day in the life of...

George Thompson, a sports therapist at the Matt Hampson Foundation. He helps rehabilitate young people who have been seriously injured through sport.

This is a feature from Issue 9 of Charitable Traveller. Click to read more from this issue.

Some people come to us straight after being discharged from hospital, others have spent years living with their injury and come to us to improve their situation. Our beneficiaries have a range of disabilities, from people like our founder, Matt, 
who have severe spinal cord injuries and very little function from the neck down, to amputees.

A typical day...

… starts with a team meeting. I see six patients a day and the first arrives at 9am. I work with physiotherapists and personal trainers to assist with developing the rehabilitation programmes our beneficiaries take on. I concentrate on bones, muscles and joints and do a lot of work on shoulder strength to help people adjust to using a wheelchair. At lunch the gym closes and the staff and beneficiaries sit down together to eat.

the best bit...

… .is helping people to make life changing changes. On a daily basis I get to see people do things they never thought they would be able to do again. Some people come to us with specific goals so when you help them achieve them it’s very satisfying. I have one beneficiary who was an avid horse rider until her accident and I helped her to get back on a horse. Another is now able to play with his daughters.

What's hard...

…is dealing with the mental side of rehabilitation. Many beneficiaries have been through a significant trauma and are revaluating their lives. We work very closely so they often confide in us. I might be with someone who tells me something upsetting but afterwards I’ll have a patient who needs me to be upbeat, so I have to switch from being calm and understanding to motivational.

But what's unique...

…is the environment the foundation has created, where beneficiaries help each other as much as we help them. Our Get Busy Living Centre allows people with similar mind sets to meet and support each other. After lunch recently, one of our new beneficiaries told me it was the first time in ten years that he’d not felt like the odd one out.

GET BUSY LIVING
Ex-rugby player Matt Hampson was paralysed in a scrum accident in 2005 and set up his foundation to help young people like him to rebuild their lives. 

Matt Hampson Foundation

This is a feature from Issue 9 of Charitable Traveller. Click to read more from this issue.