Dancer struck with bone cancer does 4-mile walk raising funds for Ability Bow therapy gym
Courageous bone marrow cancer patient Albie Ollivierre completing gruelling four-mile walk in Victoria Park. Picture: - Credit: Tony Snook
A choreographer and professional dancer struck down by incurable bone marrow cancer has managed to walk four miles in a 5k race through Victoria Park raising desperately-needed funds for his therapy gymnasium.
Albie... with plasma drips and contstantly wired up to stay alive. Picture: Tony Snook - Credit: Tony Snook
Albie Ollivierre completed yesterday’s gruelling course in the annual fundraiser for Ability Bow rehabilitation gym after being in a wheelchair for 14 months, helping to raise £1,000.
Albie, who trained as a dancer in the 1980s and worked and taught at venues like Sadler’s Wells and the Royal Opera House, was in hospital seven-and-a-half months with multiple myeloma cancer.
But the determined 57-year-old from Old Ford Road in Bow, began developing his physical strength again, taking on long-term one-to-one exercise sessions at the gym and home physio, progressing to walking unaided after using sticks.
Albie at one of his many hospital sessions treating his bone marrow cancer. Picture: Tony Snook - Credit: Tony Snook
“I doubt I’d even be here if it wasn’t for Ability Bow’s trainers,” Albie says. “Sometimes I need a stick to aid walking after hospital treatment—but being able to walk again unaided if I want to is amazing.
“Many people feel lost and isolated when diagnosed with cancer, but this gym removes that feeling and gives you hope confidence to feel empowered. It’s been life-changing.”
Albie helped raise the cash on Sunday, having already taken part in two previous annual fundraisers in the park since joining the gym in 2014.
Sunday volunteer runners in Victoria Park raising funds for Ability Bow therapy gym. Picture: Tony Snook - Credit: Tony Snook
You may also want to watch:
He has pulled in £2,000 from his personal wellwishers in three events, donated for a new one-to-one therapy service at the gym in St Stephen’s Road, a short distance from his home.
Ability Bow founder Victoria Kent said: “His remarkable achievement is vital to increase public awareness and funds to keep our service going which we believe can keep communities fitter and stronger for longer.”
But Ability Bow, which helps 400 disabled people into exercise each year with many referred by NHS hospitals and GPs, relies on public donations, after being marred by a series of funding crises since 2007.
Most Read
- 1 Cops break Covid-19 rules to have haircuts at Bethnal Green police station
- 2 Murder arrest after woman stabbed to death in Whitechapel this morning
- 3 Lovely Day for Aldgate School picked to sing on Billy Ocean's new single
- 4 Police e-fit expert retiring after 15 years at Bethnal Green
- 5 Fury as family homes vanish when Isle of Dogs landlord converts to bedsits
- 6 Man sentenced after teenage boy groomed on Snapchat to sell heroin
- 7 Covid hero who did charity walk in Bow aged 100 now has vaccine
- 8 Two men arrested after police officers assaulted in Limehouse rave
- 9 Covid vaccination hub opening in Westfield next week
- 10 'Racist consultation' protest rejected on Tower Hamlets street closures as Labour sticks to its manifesto
Today it runs therapy for people with conditions like Multiple Sclerosis and cancer, aids those recovering from stroke or serious accidents with tailored physical exercise and emotional support and also provides activities to support those with hearing impairments.