We are so proud of Zelfa “Flash” Barrett for winning his fight last weekend and returning to what he does best, Boxing.
Zelfa came to the Student-Led Therapy Service at the MIHP for rehabilitation after Achilles surgery.
As Zelfa was the first professional athlete that the service had treated we made sure that all students were carefully supervised by their Physiotherapy Lecturer, Dale Walker.
Working with professional Boxers is an amazing experience for the Students.
Zelfa gets fantastic Physiotherapy treatment, the Students get an amazing experience and the MIHP provides state of the art facilities.
Physiotherapy is only a small part of the Athletes Rehabilitation journey.
The MIHP continues to perform fitness testing and measurement of key performance indicators as athletes progress.
This is a win, win, win situation.
After the rehabilitation was complete Zelfa kindly invited us to attend his first fight back at Oldham Leisure Centre.
Which he of course won.
There is no better feeling for a Physiotherapist than knowing you have played your part in the amazing TEAM that athletes require for optimal performance.
Zelfa Barrett the Bulletproofbodies Team salute you.
Reece Mitchell came 4th
at the CrossFit Games 2019 at only 17 years old. What's even more amazing is that he made his first appearance
at the Games as a 15 year old.
We were lucky enough to
have Reece come and join us at the Bulletproof Your Body Injury Prevention Workshop.
Reece at only 17 is a
true champion as to return from injury is always an amazing achievement.
Reece describes that at
the very first event of the Games he tore his glute on the first event.
Confused between the
American system and Kilos he put more on the bar!
Reece sought the help
of Bulletproof Physiotherapist Dale Walker. Reece and Dale worked together for months to get him pain free and back to optimal function. He managed to qualify for the Games but made the mature decision not to go as he was not at his best.
The proof is in Reece
getting back to the Games and competing at the highest level with the fittest
on Earth.
Reece is now much more conscious about injury and how to manage injuries. It was fantastic to have the UK's top Teen athlete endorse Bulletproofbodies. Reece Mitchell, the
Bulletproofbodies Team salute you.
He had the privilege of being the
expedition Physiotherapist for the trek.
There were several injuries along the
way such as an ankle inversion and Illio-Tibial Band compression syndrome (sore
knees).
He even ended up providing
Physiotherapy for other teams on the trek.
Day One:
An uphill battle to say the
least. There were some amazing views along the way, including hot pools, steam
vents and rainbow coloured mountains! After the walk, during which we gained
some serious altitude, we stayed the night at a small communal mountain hut. On
arrival to our huts, we unpacked and together walked up to a stunning viewpoint
where we were able to see not only 18 of the 20 glaciers in Iceland, but the
biggest glacier in Europe! Sadly, that night the weather turned from beautiful
sunshine to high winds and rain.
Day Two:
The back end of Hurricane
Dorian made our walk even more physically challenging! We will never forget the
experience of walking through, on average, 65 mile per hour winds and the
heaviest of rain. We were all battered and beat on the tops and found out that
waterproof means something different in Iceland. As you’d expect, we didn’t see
much except the floor due to the weather and very loose footing! In the evening
we stopped in a Lakeside hut, with gorgeous views we took in the next morning.
Day Three:
Still wet and windy, after
packing up and striking out we walked through the Black Desert which was a long
and seemingly endless walk. The ground was made from sandy, volcanic materials
making it challenging to walk on. However, we were able to numb the walking
pains temporarily as we completed a number of river crossings throughout the
day.
I was initially concerned about one
of the Trekkers whose ankle was strapped and was given poles to assist with
walking. We all pushed through to get to our mountain hut. The amazing views
once again made up for our sore and exhausted bodies.
Day Four:
With on and off rain, we
undertook our longest day of walking. To begin, we made a slight detour to see
an extraordinary canyon not far from were we had stopped the night before!
Making our way back to camp and then through the mountains, team morale and
encouragement was high as we pushed through with the charity constantly in the
back of our minds. With emotions running high, we summoned several peaks as the
valleys got greener and completed our final river crossing of the trip. Wading
through glacial water in the Porsmork valley, we were determined the make it to
the end. After not too long, we had our final mountain hut in sight, which laid
nestled in a lush valley of birch woodland. Dropping down through the thick
vegetation, we had finally made it to our final mountain hut to rest and
reflect on the challenge.
Day Five:
After a celebratory sleep,
we decided to summit one last breathtaking view point before getting the bus
home. With outstanding 360° views, we looked back once again on the challenges,
unforgiving terrain, horrendous weather and absolutely breath-taking sights we
saw over the last 4 days. Our last view was graced with two beautiful glaciers,
two powerful volcanoes and a wide, gorgeous river delta heading out towards the
sea.
Day 6:
A well deserved trip to
Iceland’s legendary Blue Lagoon was the perfect way to recover from the walking.
What a challenge, what a trek, what
an amazing group of people! It is important to acknowledge that we couldn’t
have done it without each other, but equally not to forgot the importance of
why we did this challenge.
We all took on this challenge to
support i2gether - a charity set up to give young vulnerable adults the help
they need to become who they aspire to be.
From hard backgrounds of physical,
sexual and mental abuse, i2gether give them opportunities to experience new
positive challenges to help them improve their lives.
For our group, this challenge was
hard and affected us all in different ways, but we still need your help.
Our
challenge might be over, but their challenge is not! Any donation counts! We
need your support so using the link below, donate today!
In
the news this week is the remarkable story of 54 year old Neil Parker in Australia who
crawled for two days after falling down a water fall and fracturing his leg and wrist.
"Straight away, I thought,
'I'm now in a lot of trouble because no one knows where I am.”
"What took me 40 minutes to walk up took me nearly two days to crawl back down."
Parker
said painkillers and protein bars he had packed for his hike on the Cabbage
Tree Creek trail had helped him survive the painful and painstaking journey.
He
said he use hiking poles as a splint and then began
"scrambling and
lifting, inch-by-inch"
to get two miles to a clearing where he could be
spotted.
Mount Nebo is
20 miles from Brisbane in Australia.
What should have been a pleasurable hike turned into the fight of his life as Neil crawled for 2 days.
This
is why should you NEVER trek alone and preferably take a Physio with you when
trekking.
Neil Parker, the Bulletproofbodies Team salute your survival skills. However, next time take your Physio.
