CAPTAIN of the England and Great Britain cerebral palsy football teams, Jack Rutter, paid a visit to St Matthews Primary School in Stroud this morning.
Jack who is originally from Newent runs a programme dedicated to teaching children about healthy living by getting them active and involved in sport.
He has visited schools all across the South-West from Gloucester to Worcester and even Wales.
The children at St Matthews were put through their paces with a number of exercise circuits including spotty dogs, press-ups, star jumps and mountain climbers.
Jack is hoping that his sessions will encourage the children to become more active and look forward to P.E.
He said: “It doesn’t matter if you are a boy, girl or differently abled anybody can get involved in sport.
“I want to explain the children about the importance of living a healthy lifestyle but also teach them other values such as being respectful.”
At 18-years-old Jack had the world at his feet, signing for Birmingham City FC and looking destined to make it to the top.
However, in March 2009 he was assaulted on a night out in Gloucester, waking up with a double fracture to the skull which later developed into mild cerebral palsy, dashing his dreams of playing Premier League football.
Despite some tough times in the immediate aftermath of the assault he refused to let the injury phase him and was invited to train with the England cerebral palsy team in 2012.
Since then he has never looked back and captained Team GB to their best ever finish of fifth at the Rio Paralympics in 2016.
Jack said: “Life is about bouncing back
“We all go through some tough times but it’s about showing resilience and the desire to be the best you can be.
“I hope that is what the children will take away from my sessions.”
The St Matthews students certainly seemed to be enjoying their day with the Paralympian and their teacher Lucy Beebee was delighted with the visit.
Lucy said: “When the children find out that a sports player is coming to visit it is all they talk about
“We had Olympic runner Emily Diamond come in last year and in the weeks after her visit you could really see the children’s extra effort in P.E lessons.”
The children are sponsored to take part in the sessions and the money raised is put back into the school to help pay for P.E equipment.
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