About two-and-half-years ago, a collision with her playful dog left Kathy Riley with a spiral fracture of her tibia and a dislocated and fractured ankle.
Her recovery took more than a year, progressing from wheelchair, to walker, to cane, to no aid at all.
But the ordeal left her in constant fear. A woman who had prided herself on remaining athletic into her late 50s with skiing, cycling, kayaking and other outdoor activities with her family now wouldn’t carry own grandchildren down stairs. She was just too afraid of falling again.
“We went from being a really active family to sitting on the sidelines,” Kathy said. “My anxiety over falling and getting hurt was effecting my whole life.”
In July, she did fall again. The 59-year-old social worker just lost her balance while out for a walk and smashed her face into the asphalt.
“That scarred me so bad I wasn’t sleeping,” Kathy said. “I was really anxious about falling and hurting myself again. I was like a little old lady holding my husband’s arm in the parking lot after dark.”
Her doctor had frank advice – find a personal trainer … now.
Why? Kathy’s long recovery and lack of physical activity had led to weight gain and muscle loss. Physiotherapy alone wasn’t enough. She needed to get active again, to lose weight and get her strength back. Most importantly she needed to get her confidence back.
So with her husband along to support her, Kathy headed to the nearby Kanata location of Free Form Fitness, so nervous she was in tears. Her first consultation with manager Ashley Nuovo made all the difference.
“Ashley was unbelievably supportive the first day I came in, but I had no reason to be afraid, because everyone was so nice,” Kathy said. “They didn’t push me, they just nudged me.”
After four months training with Michael Robichaud and Renny Stopford, Kathy has made fantastic progress. She’s lost 15 pounds. Most importantly, she’s lost the fear.
“I’m not anxious anymore, I’m sleeping, I’m not afraid to do things,” Kathy said. “I’m cycling more, walking more, and generally more active – I’ve got the confidence to be active, and a general feeling of calmness I didn’t have before. What’s really important is the difference it’s made for my husband, my kids and my grandchildren, to have me back doing things I did before.”
Kathy can’t say enough about the supportive atmosphere she found at FFF:
“I really didn’t think I would have accomplished this in a larger gym because I would never have walked through the door. There was absolutely no pressure to make a long-term commitment, just positive encouragement. I felt they really cared about how I was going to do – I wasn’t just somebody else they were signing up.”
But Kathy has made a commitment – to herself – and intends to stick with it. She only wishes more doctors would be so frank about prescribing this kind of lifestyle change to their patients. It strikes her now, how many of her much younger co-workers are already complaining of aches and pains due to poor diet and a lack of exercise.
“If you’re a little bit older and you’ve had an injury or an accident, this is the place to come,” she said. “I ‘m not 100 per cent yet, but I am getting there. And dammit, I am going to face the mighty Mt. Pakenham with my grandkids this winter.”
