Disabled athlete to open 'life changing' gym

Opening a gym for people with a disability has been a dream come true for Jennifer Smyth.

The 10-year project took hard work, perseverance and a significant personal financial investment.

But she says it was all worth it as the Maydown facility outside Londonderry officially opens on Friday.

Jennifer was a talented young athlete but a fall during training in September 2013 changed her life.

Aged 17, the gymnast sustained a broken neck and became quadriplegic after the accident.

Since that day, she vowed to open her own gym to help others keep fit and socialise.

"After my injury, I had no gym to go to which was fully accessible," she told BBC News NI.

"You can go to a regular gym and train parts of your body that work but you can't train the parts of the body that don't work.

"So I wanted to create a gym that I could train my whole body. We all need exercise so making a gym that's fully accessible for all really was my dream to create.

"We're fully accessible and all the equipment is fully adapted or created for people with disabilities. It has been a big investment but we are a charity."

Brooke Canning and Jennifer, both from County Londonderry, came together and bonded over their life-changing injuries in 2023.

Brooke, from Ballykelly, said: "I was involved in a road accident three years ago where I suffered a spinal cord injury similar to Jennifer so I met Jennifer after my accident and she's been a great help so far.

"I was initially paralysed from my neck down and through months of physio I finally gained strength in my arms.

"This gym is going to be life changing to a lot of people out there that are in similar situations like me as I'm a wheelchair user."

Jennifer's mum Pamela says she is really proud of her daughter.

"It is just fantastic to see it, 110% behind her," she said.

"She is such a humble girl. She does not want this to be about her.

"She's been to America and she has trained on a lot of this equipment that she has put in here and she knows the benefit, not just in terms of the equipment but in the social interaction that she and the others will get from it.

"She wants to share that. She wants other people to be their best and have a really good journey themselves."

Kim Gregg, a clinical specialist physiotherapist, says the gym is a significant development.

"It really is priceless for this patient population," she said.

"There really is nothing like this in Northern Ireland.

"In a normal set of circumstances, a gym will maybe have one piece of equipment that's appropriate for someone who has a neurological condition but this gym has various pieces of equipment so people can get a really full workout, so very beneficial indeed.

"It's not cheap at all. Everything to do with disability comes with a set of zeros at the end. Anyone in this position will know that when they go to buy any piece of kit it's several thousand pounds so there's been significant investment.

"Each one of these pieces of kit has a high degree of technology to be able to assist these patients, so it comes at a high tariff."

Holly Deane, a volunteer at the new gym, thinks it will make a profound difference to those who use it.

"I'm very much interested in studying physio next year," she said.

"I thought it would be a great experience to reach out to Jennifer and volunteer here in her gym to get more experience with her physios.

"It's important to me because it's really promoting workouts for people who have neurological conditions and disabilities and Jennifer's really worked hard in making this possible.

"It's so special seeing a place now in Northern Ireland that people can come and work out as its just as important for them to work out as people who are able.

"It's inspiring for me and that's why it's special."