A diagnosis that changed everything
Les Darvill was 58 when tremors first sent him to his GP. The doctor's verdict — Parkinson's disease — turned his world upside down. For a long time after that, the 66-year-old grandfather refused to leave the house, hiding his diagnosis from those around him.
His daughter, Gemma, remembers the dark days vividly. 'His only symptom was a tremor. He went to the doctor and was told he had Parkinson's,' she said. 'He really struggled with the diagnosis and wouldn't leave the house for a long time. He hid away and didn't tell anyone.'
Gemma, now 36, knew something had to change. She spotted an opportunity with a local walking football club called Fighting Fit, which had spaces open. After a little gentle persuasion, her dad agreed to give it a go. 'I said come on dad what have you got to lose?' she recalled.
The gamble paid off. Walking football, with its slower pace and supportive atmosphere, gave Les a reason to get out of bed. He now goes to the club once a week and enters tournaments, and his daughter has no doubt about its impact. 'I genuinely believe it saved his life,' she said.
Helping others find their team
Gemma's involvement with walking football did not stop with her father. A woman who was keen to start a female team approached her for help. Three years on, the Parkinson's Pioneers Women's Walking Football Community is still going strong. 'A lady wanted to start her own female team and asked if I could help. It's now three years ago and we're still going strong,' Gemma said.
The group meets at Solihull Football Centre, chosen because it is a central location for participants coming from across the UK. Women from their 30s to 80s travel from as far as Devon and Manchester to take part. 'It's a safe social place for them all,' Gemma explained. 'They can support each other and it can be a lifeline for them.'
Gemma, who works as a primary school teacher after a previous career as a PE teacher, makes the monthly trip from her home in Milton Keynes to Solihull to run the sessions. She brings along her four-year-old son Hudson, who serves as the team's mascot with his own special t-shirt.
Heading to Canada
Her dedication has led to a new role as head coach and manager of Parkinson's England Walking Football Team. In September, she hopes to take the team to Canada to demonstrate how exercise can ease the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. To help pay for the journey, a GoFundMe page has been launched.
'We're taking them out there to show people in Canada how exercise can help with the symptoms of Parkinson's,' she said. 'I've never been one to want to do a GoFundMe but sometimes you have to do what you have to do. It is for a good cause.'
Gemma also stressed that the door is open for anyone affected by Parkinson's who wants to join. 'If anyone out there is living with Parkinson's and wants to join us, please do,' she said. 'We also have contact with men's teams. If there are men with Parkinson's who don't know where to go we can help to source them a team.' Hudson, meanwhile, will be wearing his mascot shirt again for the Canada trip, ready to cheer on the squad.
