Here are just some snippets of Heathy Heroes stories !

Eric from Clowne

I suffered a stroke about 18 months ago which severely affected the left side of my body. Until this happened I had always been very active, walking and training a Springer Spaniel to competition standard. You can imagine how devastated and frustrated I was to find myself incapacitated in the way that I was. Unable to do much at all and not able to walk any distance at all without pain and discomfort down my left side.

My doctor, although saying that I should just accept that I was not going to improve further, suggested that I should enrol on the Wellness programme at Creswell which I duly did in the July of 2008.

I first attended the chair exercises and then after a time with the help of the staff in the centre enrolled for the gym as well and continued 2/3 times per week until January 2009. These regimes enabled me to regain my fitness, self-esteem and confidence resulting in my being able to resume work, albeit in a reduced capacity mainly in consultancy.

I have continued to keep my fitness by swimming regularly at Creswell and trying other things such as massage and acupuncture. Although my disability still remains, I am most grateful to the staff at Creswell for getting me to where I am today!

Ron

I have always enjoyed walking and climbing in Derbyshire and the Lake District but over the last few years I've found myself slowing down and avoiding the challenging routes. After a couple of falls which broke my left ankle and heel I reached the conclusion that I was getting old, I had just passed 50, and I would have to reign in my ambitions. About 30 months ago I was diagnosed with depression and I was putting on weight, I'd given up on the scales when I passed 95kg.........I joined a gym and started to go for easy exercises twice a week, this soon grew into four or five times a week and I came off the anti-depressants. After a year I had lost at least 20kg and my wife was in a size 8. My depression has lifted.............I can now see an active life ahead of me

Amar from Derby

I took up physical activity six months ago. At the time I was a heavy smoker 30 a day. One particularly cold day I was having a smoke outside my front door when my daughter came up to me and said "daddy do you want to make me more ill, it’s cold outside and I have a cold" she is 5 years old. From there I thought of quitting. I had tried before on three occasions and failed. This time I went to get professional advice. They helped me quit. To motivate me I decided the money I saved would go towards joining the gym. I joined the gym six months ago and train nearly everyday..............

Carl

In 2001 I was quite chubby, unhealthy and felt low. In November 2001 I decided to do something about this, I joined Fitness Forum in Matlock where they helped me into the swing of things. Four months later after loads of cardio and light weights, plus cutting out crisps and eating fruit for the first time, I plunged from 18 stone down to 14 stone......... I enjoy exercise and am trying to keep up my extra cardio to keep my stomach flatter.