Olympic hero Tom James has paid tribute to his mum for the pivotal role she played in helping him to win two gold medals.<\/p>\n
Luckily for him his mother, Julia James, is a top physiotherapist who provided professional as well as personal support while he recovered from injuries and surgery during his distinguished career.<\/p>\n
During his latest visit home, Tom popped in to see her at work at the Spire Yale Consulting Rooms in Abergele which is a satellite to the private Spire Yale Hospital in Wrexham.<\/p>\n
Tom, 29, who grew up in Coedpoeth, near Wrexham, and began rowing as a pupil at Chester’s King’s School. He struck gold for Britain in the coxless fours at both the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympic Games.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cAs an athlete you are always going to suffer injuries and you have to know how to deal with them. I suffered quite a few serious injuries and always sought mum\u2019s expert advice so I could recover as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cMum has without doubt been a massive help to me when it comes to the treatment of injuries.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s vital you trust the judgement of both your surgeon and physiotherapist. And when it comes to mum, I trust her implicitly although I\u2019m sure she will say I\u2019m by no means the easiest of patients to deal with!\u201d<\/p>\n
Tom, who represented Cambridge as part of their Boat Race crew four times as well as winning won gold medals as part of the GB coxless fours in the 2011 World Rowing Championships and the Rowing World Cup, added: \u201cThroughout my international rowing career I did suffer several bad injuries and had to undergo surgery on a number of occasions.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had surgery on a tear in my hip, a knee injury as well as on my wrist and back. The back injury was perhaps the worst as we really didn\u2019t know what the problem was. However, it caused me to miss almost a year and stay out of the boat prior to Beijing, which was difficult.<\/p>\n
\u201cInitially we thought it was a rib stress fracture as my side was very tight and sore. However, it turned out it was an old hip injury that manifested itself in my back.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt turned out I had an old back injury that was made worse because of the hip injury.<\/p>\n
\u201cMum was very much part of the team that got me back in the boat. I had surgery at a Spire hospital in Cambridge and then returned home to Coedpoeth to convalesce and to get mum\u2019s advice. She soon had things moving in the right direction, <\/span>along with the rest of her team at The Chartered Physiotherapy Clinic.<\/p>\n “Having mum on hand to give me expert advice and support when I needed it definitely helped me become a successful international and Olympic rower.<\/p>\n \u201cShe was certainly a big part of the gold medal-winning team!\u201d<\/p>\n Tom, who has now retired from competitive rowing, is about to start work as Business Consultant with a top London firm.<\/p>\n Julia said: “Being an athlete he knew all about injuries and sometimes had his own ideas as to how they should be treated.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd of course, like most athletes, he always wanted to get back training and competing as fast as possible.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, whenever he had surgery, such as the back injury which was operated on at Spire Cambridge, he always came straight back to Wrexham and we\u2019d sit down and discuss the way forward.\u201d<\/p>\n Julia, who trained at Birmingham\u2019s Queen Elizabeth Hospital and has 40 years experience as a musculoskeletal physiotherapist, is the practice principal of\u00a0 the independent Chartered Physiotherapy Clinic Limited in Wrexham<\/p>\n She said: \u201cInitially, we were based at Spire Yale Hospital, Wrexham but now have our own premises on Wrexham Technology Park, almost next door to the hospital.<\/p>\n \u201cWe enjoy a very close relationship with the hospital, which we visit several times a day to see in-patients and offer post-operative advice.<\/p>\n \u201cIn fact our team of qualified physiotherapists are contracted to deliver physiotherapy services to what is North Wales\u2019 sole private hospital. We offer a complete physiotherapy service including acupuncture and electrotherapy treatments.\u201d<\/p>\n She added: \u201cI have always enjoyed being a physiotherapist and take a great deal of satisfaction from treating a patient and seeing their condition improve whether the treatment is post operative or a long standing condition.<\/p>\n \u201cI also enjoy seeing and treating patients at the Spire Abergele Consulting Rooms which is a bright, modern and relaxing venue.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think people are often surprised at the range of conditions we do treat. There is perhaps a view that physiotherapists just deal with aches and strains. Nothing could be further from the truth.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course we do treat spinal, sport and soft tissue injuries as well as joint problems, arthritis, trauma and fractures.<\/p>\n \u201cBut we also treat stress and incontinence issues in both men and women, neurological conditions such as stroke, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson\u2019s, chest complaints such as asthma and bronchitis, vestibular disorders such as vertigo and dizziness and pain management of<\/span> both chronic and acute conditions.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd all our physiotherapists are chartered and registered with the Health Professions Council while staff with a particular interest and expertise belong to special interest groups which require on-going training and development.\u201d<\/p>\n Sue Jones, the Manager of Spire Yale Hospital and the Consulting Rooms in Abergele, said: \u201cSpire Yale has enjoyed a long relationship with Julia James and the rest of the team. I know her gold medal winning son Tom trusts his mum\u2019s judgement and skills as a physiotherapist and I do to.<\/p>\n \u201cThe service they provide is exceptional and I know, from patient feedback, how popular their clinics and consultations are. This year we celebrate the 25th anniversary of Spire Yale and for much of that time Julia and her team have provided an excellent physiotherapy service to our patients.\u201d<\/p>\n