Hydrotherapy sessions need to be nearer
The parents of a severely disabled man say it would make a massive difference to their lives if a hydrotherapy pool was available in Newark.
Mr Adrian Hartley and Mrs Julie Hartley, of Hawton Road, Newark, would like a pool included in the town’s proposed new leisure centre development.
Their son, Dale, has cerebral palsy. Hydrotherapy sessions provide pain relief, help improve circulation and enable him to spend time out of his wheelchair.
They used to take him to a pool at the former Balderton Hospital site at Fernwood, but since that closed about five years ago they have had to travel to Nottingham and Mansfield.
The pools there are not available all the time and can cost £50 an hour to use.
Mr Adrian Hartley, 62, said: “We used to go weekly, and one of the problems now is that we have isolated sessions but it is difficult to maintain it.
“Dale gets stiff through being in his wheelchair or bed and hydrotherapy helps him to kick his legs and get his circulation going, which in turn helps other things like digestion. It also helps him to sleep at night, and that in turn helps us to sleep.
“It makes a big difference but it takes five or six weeks to get to that stage, so to then have to stop makes it feel like it is being snatched away from you.”
He said long car journeys to and from the pool also reduced the effectiveness of the therapy.
Mrs Hartley, 60, said: “You only have to be at the pool to see what benefit and pleasure he gets from it. It is such a relief and change from when he is in his chair.”
Mr Hartley said other countries had hydrotherapy pools included at leisure centres.
“In Australia, for example, they use the local swimming pool facility. Then you have the hydrotherapy pool and the changing facilities all in one place,” he said.
“Something like that at the Grove or at a new leisure centre would be ideal.”
He said mother and baby groups and elderly people could also benefit.
County councillor Mr Stuart Wallace has enquired on behalf of the couple to see if a hydrotherapy pool could be included in a new leisure centre.
Newark and Sherwood District Council has earmarked land off Bowbridge Road for the development.
