QEH colleague provided support to elite athletes
As part of World Physiotherapy Day tomorrow (8 September) we’re sharing stories and celebrating the great work done by our Physiotherapy colleagues.
Victoria Ogunṣeitan, Highly Specialist Physiotherapist at Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), recently volunteered to work in the athletes village at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Based at the University of Warwick in the West Midlands, the village was a campus where many of the athletes lived and trained for the duration of the games. Victoria provided physiotherapy and first aid support to the competitors based there ahead of their events.
Victoria (pictured, centre) says: “Over the course of the games the village was home to over 4,500 athletes from 72 countries. It was a fantastic experience and I gave support to teams competing in events including the Rugby 7s, judo, wrestling and even lawn bowls. I got to watch athletes training, which was fascinating, and meant I had lots of opportunities to practice my skills in taping and sports trauma first aid which gave me great insight into the physiotherapy needs for athletes' pre-competition.
“We worked within a ‘’Polyclinic’’ – a multi-disciplinary team - and it was a dream having immediate and easy access to pharmacists, radiologists, GPs and sport doctors, massage therapists, osteopaths and chiropractors to name just a few!
“I really enjoyed watching the judo training for Team England, Team Jamaica and Team Nigeria. I also helped in the treatment of a wrestler with a clavicle fracture, and had the pleasure of speaking with athletes during treatments to offer encouragement and motivation.
“Overall, it was a really fun experience. A great opportunity to work within the world of elite sport and network with fellow professionals, sharing knowledge and experience. I would recommend it to anyone and look forward to doing something similar again in the future.”
We’d like to wish all of our amazing Physiotherapists a very happy World Physiotherapy Day on Thursday 8 September. #worldPTday2022 #Physiotherapy
