Richard Climpson, is the first Detention Officer to access treatment at the PTC, having signed up as one of our new groups during the summer amnesty campaign - #MoreThanJustAPoliceOfficer.
Merseyside Detention Officer Richard
, previously worked as a Police Officer for 31 ½ years, he treated himself to a month off work, before coming back and signing up as a Detention Officer, where he has been working for the past 7 years.
As a Police Officer, Richard had previously attended the PTC in 1982 and early 1990’s, however upon his recent visit in August 2017, he was most impressed with the noticeable changes made to both the building and treatment now available.
Richard’s recent visit to the PTC was on the back of a knee problem. Richard had an existing knee injury where he had torn his cartilage, however as a knock on effect earlier this year his other knee swelled up, resulting in him being in severe pain and needing to take 10 weeks off work. During his time off, he accessed physio through the NHS which unfortunately had little effect. Richard was eventually able to go back to work on restricted duties and resumed to full duties after a month, despite still struggling with the pain. It was at this point he put in a referral to visit the PTC for treatment.
Richard had signed up as a retired officer upon retiring from the force 7 years ago, however on the back of the recent amnesty for the new groups which took place this summer, he cancelled his subscription as a retired officer and signed back up as a detention officer. This enabled Richard to access treatment straight away and benefit from the 2 week treatment programme, rather than just a week as a retired officer.
During Richard’s two week treatment, he was thoroughly assessed and advised to seek further medical assistance on the back of a further undiagnosed condition, something which had not been picked up previously. The focus was given to his left knee which was where the pain was coming from, however the physio was also able to spend time manipulating his right knee cap to help ease possible future pain in that area due to this being an existing problem.
Richard said;
“The physio manipulated my knee caps, it already feels loads better after just the first week, I’ll be running home next Friday!”
Richard benefited from the acupuncture on offer, helping ease some of the pain he had been experiencing.
“Bizarrely I didn’t even think of coming up the stairs today and crossing my legs now, things I haven’t been able to do in ages, I can already feel the difference the treatment is making.”
Richard also enjoyed accessing the pools, which didn’t put extra pressure on his knees, unfortunately many of the classes were not suitable due to his condition and pain, however Richard did enjoy attending a Yoga class, something he tells us his wife has been asking him to attend with her for years, but never has.
“My wife does yoga, she has wanted me to go with her for years. I was pleasantly surprised at how interesting I found this, it was very relaxing. My wife is stunned!!”
Richard is also keen to put into practice some of the lessons learnt during his attendance at the Nutrition talk.
“The whole environment is so relaxing, it aids your recovery. This place really is the best kept secret!”
Richard is keen to act as an ambassador for the charity, distributing leaflets, attending speaker engagements to help spread the word about the charity and encourage future support. If you would like to help support the Charity like Richard, please get in touch here.
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