Physiotherapy lecturer attends her fourth Commonwealth Games

A Teesside lecturer is in India aiming to help boost England’s medal hopes in the Commonwealth Games.

Julie Sparrow, Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy, is working as a physiotherapist at the Delhi Commonwealth Games, which take place from October 3 to 14.

She said: ‘I’ve been working with the GB Gymnastics team for the past 22 years. I’ve been to two Olympic Games and this is my fourth Commonwealth Games. We’re already gearing up for the 2012 Olympics.’

Julie worked as a NHS physiotherapist for 18 years at Middlesbrough’s General Hospital and James Cook Hospital before joining Teesside University as a lecturer nine years ago - returning to where she studied physiotherapy in the early 1980s when it was Teesside Polytechnic.

She said: ‘The campus has improved a lot and is completely unrecognisable compared to when I was a student here, but one thing which hasn’t changed is the quality of the people.’

Proud to represent Teesside During her time in Delhi, Julie will be involved in managing the England gymnastics team’s needs and will be on 24-hour call.

She added: ‘I’m quite proud of what I’ve achieved and proud to be able to say I’m from Teesside when I meet with peers from other universities. I’m from this area originally and it does make me really proud to see some of our students go on to achieve great things.

‘I haven’t visited India before but I’m really interested in seeing how physiotherapists work over there. There is a lot of inequality in the way wealth is distributed and many physiotherapists work in areas where there is a lot of poverty.’

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