‘Football saved Dad’s life’: meet the coach of the England women’s Parkinson’s team
The Guardian
It began with getting her dad into walking football after his diagnosis – now Gemma Darvill is taking a national team on tour to Canada
When Gemma Darvill’s dad, Les, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease aged 58, joining a walking football team stopped him from confining himself to his own home, and she believes the game saved his life.
What she could never have foreseen was that, eight years later, she would find herself coaching the first England women’s Parkinson’s team, helping transform the lives of women with the disease from all across the country. She is set to embark on a journey to Toronto to help spread awareness of the ways in which walking football can help put the brakes on the progression of Parkinson’s symptoms.
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