Andrew's Story
Cyclopark Saved My Life – I mean that, with every fibre of my being
Andrewās story is a powerful reminder that physical strength and mental fortitude can help you survive the impossible!
Trapped
By 2023, Andrew’s world had become small and dark as he lived with three life-threatening aneurysms. A massive aortic aneurysm had grown to a dangerous 6.2cm, making him a “ticking time bomb”. Because of his poor health and weight, he was refused life-saving surgery three times, with surgeons telling him they didn’t think he would survive the operation.
Belief
Finding Cycloparkās Chair Fit and Chat classes became Andrewās lifeline. Initially nervous about “Lycra-wearing gym bunnies,” he found a supportive community where he was treated as an individual.Ā Andrew started with light exercise, which gave him the confidence to quit smoking, stop drinking, and transform his eating habits.
Thriving
Today, Andrew is nearly three stone lighter, his COPD is under control, and he has successfully survived the high-risk surgery he once feared. No longer watching from the sidelines, he is now leading the wayāmowing the lawn and keeping up with his wife and family on days out to the zoo. He says Cyclopark is the reason that he is still her today.
Watch The Video
Read The Story
Discover Andrewās full perspective on his experience at Cyclopark and how he regained the future he thought he had lost forever.
Read The Story
Discover Andrewās full perspective on his experience at Cyclopark and how he regained the future he thought he had lost forever.
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The Cyclopark Charity Effect
Our targeted programmes and expert support create a welcoming environment for people to change their lives, just like Andrew.Ā
Chair Fit & Chat
These sessions are a gentle, low-impact seated exercise class designed for to help improve muscular strength, flexibility, balance and range of motion in a safe and supportive group environment.
Chair Fit & Chat is FREE for people aged 65+ and provides a gateway to movement for older adults living with limited mobility or serious health concerns.
The physical effects alone are substantial, but the social benefits are even greater – after every class, we provide free tea and coffee, and a place to talk amongst themselves.
For Andrew, who attended 2 out of 3 weekly Chair Fit classes, these sessions were the reason his body was strong enough not only to survive a major operation, but also to cope with the gruelling post-operative recovery.
Find out more about Chair Fit & Chat
Community Centre of Excellence
Andrew’s transformation would not have been possible without him discovering, and taking part in our FREE Chair Fit & Chat classes.
At Cyclopark Charity, we firmly believe that access to facilities and support should not be restricted to those who need it most.
We offer a range of FREE activities and programmes for people to take part in which make meaningful changes to their lives.
Check out our FREE Community Sessions.
Impact On Andrew
For Andrew, finding our venue, and benefiting from the facilities and support we offer, has been life saving.Ā
From being a āticking time-bombā to having a new lease of life with the āwoman [he] lovesā
Not only did the seated exercise classes allow him to lose enough weight (a whopping 3 stone) to proceed with life saving surgery, it also enabled him to transform his eating habits, stop drinking and quit smoking along the way.
Since Andrew recorded this story with us, both him and his wife have signed up to ourĀ Off-peak Park Active Membership. Now we regularly see Andrew and his wife visiting the gym throughout the week, in between Chair Fit Classes and catching up with the team!
This next step, allows them to move forward, together, towards a happier, healthier and wholesome future!
Andrew's Story - In His Words
Cyclopark saved my life. And I really mean that, with every fibre of my being.
Not long ago, I was trappedāphysically by three life-threatening aneurysms and mentally by a “High Risk” surgery notice that felt like a countdown and in addition, I was told I wouldn’t survive the operation I desperately needed. Today, Iām nearly three stone lighter, my COPD is under control, and Iām no longer just “watching” my wife live our life from the sidelines: Iām the one leading the way. Cyclopark didn’t just give me a place to lose weight; it gave me the physical strength and mental fortitude I needed to survive the impossible and the future I thought Iād lost forever.
If I hadnāt found this place, I wouldn’t be standing here todayāitās as simple, and as terrifying, as that.
I felt like my life had been put on hold. By 2023, my world had become very small and very dark. I was living with three aneurysmsāone on my heart, one on my leg, and a massive aortic aneurysm. It was a ticking time bomb. It had grown from 4cm to a life-threatening 6.2cm. But the physical pain wasn’t the worst part; it was the fear.
My wife is my absolute world. Everything I do, I do for her. The thought of leaving her behind, of her having to navigate life without me, was a weight far heavier than the three stone I was carrying. When I went to see the surgeon, he didn’t mince his words. Because of my weight and my poor health, he told me straight: “I don’t think youāll survive the operation.”
Three times I was refused that life-saving surgery; it felt like being caught in a revolving door with no way out. Each time, he was polite, telling me to “come back in three months” and try to lose the weight. But how do you lose weight when you can barely move? Iād look at my wife and be overwhelmed by the thought that I was watching my final days with her tick away.
I have a friend who recommended these Chair Fit classes at another location but as it was only once per week, I was worried that it wouldnāt be enough. The Cyclopark offers multiple sessions per week, and it meant that I could truly commit.
I was a bit nervous at first, Iām in no way a “fitness freak” and I thought joining a gym would be the gym-types wearing Lycra. I suppose I had a bit of preconception of what it would be and that I wouldnāt fit in but, ultimately, I was really wrong. Itās not like that at all; thereās a variety of different people and no intimidating gym bunnies.
When I first went to the Cyclopark in January 2025, I initially approached reception and the lovely lady brought Claire to come and chat to me. That was the moment when my preconceived ideas of the gym, completely disappeared. Claire didnāt see me as just another person joining the gym, she saw me as an individual.
She took the time to sit down with me and discuss my needs, and we chatted about the medical issues I was facing and initially she told me to check with my GP whether I could exercise. Following a chat with him, the GP said I could do light exercise and that was when Claire recommended the Chair Fit classes I started the Monday Chair Fit classes, and soon I was there Wednesdays too, working on everything from my breathing to my mobility.
What I need to mention is that I used to be a smoker too, I quit smoking in July 2024. I gave up the smoking, and it was one of the hardest things Iāve ever done. I also stopped drinking as I also have an enlarged heart. As well as cutting out unhealthy habits, I was motivated to evaluate all the other health aspects of my life.
The Chair Fit classes really gave me the confidence to do this, because I was starting to feel better in myself and get more mobile and physically fitter, it gave me that boost to sort out my eating habits and so I joined slimming world too. It wasnāt just about the physicalness of it all, I also learned to embrace group settings, so that gave me the confidence to go to a place like Slimming World, which seemed so daunting previously.
When I finally went back to the surgeon, he was floored. I hadn’t just “lost a bit of weight”āI had lost nearly three stone in just the few months since heād last seen me. He told me he was shocked, but more than that, he was so happy. He could see I wasn’t just thinner; I was physically strong. For the first time, he gave me the green light. Both him and I were really emotional, as he had seen how hard I had worked and I was finally getting a chance at the rest of my life.
The surgery was finally booked in for September 2025, and the letter I received from the GP was a reality check in itself. The letter stated that this was a āHigh Riskā surgery with the ārisk of death, stroke, heart attack, spinal cord ischemiaā and many other serious complications. This really frightened me and sent me into a bit of a spiral. I was still attending the Chair Fit classes right up until the surgery and Iād made friends at the class at this point.
I cannot describe the support I received, it brings a tear to my eye now, the girls behind reception even the cafĆ© staff. I was being negative about it and stating I have the surgery next week, if I survive it ā sort of thing. Well, the ladies in the Chair Fit class were so good they were saying āof course you will!ā and āweāll see you next week.ā They completed ignored my negativity and were just so positive and I really needed that at that time as I was so scared.
The surgery finally happened in September 2025, I was incredibly nervous going in, when I came out the surgeon had explained that it went well, and I was overcome with overwhelming relief because as I came to I saw my wife. I just couldnāt believe that Iād survived the surgery and I was so beyond happy to see my beautiful, beautiful wife again. Itās a feeling, Iāll never forget and one that still gets me emotional today
When I got discharged, the recovery was a mountain of its own. That was when the real, grinding pain set in. I was on morphine every four hours just to cope. Because the arteries at the top of my kidneys had died off during the procedure, the pain was so excruciating I couldn’t sit or lie down. To be honest, this was a truly dark time in my life, there was a point where I wished I hadnāt even had the surgery and I hate to say it, but I wish Iād died the pain was so bad. Ā
I spent weeks sitting upright in a chair at night, unable to sleep, staring at the walls. In those quiet, painful hours, it was the thought of my wife that kept me going; I kept thinking that Iāve survived this incredible surgery, I can survive this. Because I didn’t think Iād see her again when I went under the knife, being back home with herāeven in paināfeels like a miracle.Ā
One thing that I was told by my healthcare professionals was that because I had built up a “store” of fitness at Cyclopark from those classes, this was the reason that my body was not only able to survive the operation but also survive the excruciating pain during those first few post-operative weeks.
Since the weeks after the operation, I have really recovered well, Iām no longer taking the morphine, and my blood pressure has even decreased – I have a meeting over the next few months to review my blood pressure medication. When I had my post operative follow up with the surgeon, he was so impressed with my recovery that he now doesnāt want to see me again until March 2026.
My life is truly unrecognisable, in the best way. My breathing is easier, my COPD is under control, and my blood pressure has dropped. The real changes, that Iām so, so grateful for, are the way I can get about now. I know I keep saying this but itās incredible. I feel like Iām living not just surviving.
My friends and family have really noticed it as well, my wife is so pleased with the progress Iāve made and I really felt as though I was letting her down whereas now, I feel like Iām really doing her proud.
Before I started the Chair Fit classes, I found it hard to get around; I used to just stay indoors, frustrated and tired, watching my wife do the gardening or mow the lawn because I simply couldn’t. Iād get so out of breath or keep having to stop. Now, Iām the one pushing the mower ā I wonāt let her do it now! Everyone close to me has said that Iāve come out of my shell; Iām friendlier, more patient, and I want to be out and about. My wife and I go to the zoo now with her nieceās kids, and itās the best feeling in the world. My wife actually has trouble keeping up with me now!
She has to tell me to slow down because Iām thirty steps ahead of her, no longer puffing and panting, running around with my nieces. I really canāt emphasise this enough – the team at CycloparkāClaire and the girlsādidn’t just give me a place to exercise. They gave me my life back. They gave me more years to spend with my wife. When I say they saved my life, they literally did. Iām just being grateful. Iām a lucky man, and Iām just so happy and grateful to be alive.