A sudden spinal\u00a0injury six years ago changed Judith Marshall\u2019s life.<\/p>\n
The 73-year-old, who lives in Partick, was a professional tennis player who also taught the sport in Spain.<\/p>\n
Judith was planning to play in some Masters tennis tournaments around Europe when, she explains, \u201cI was just practising and my legs stopped working.\u201d<\/p>\n
She adds: \u201cI was rushed to hospital and they discovered that a disc had moved and partly severed my spinal cord.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u00a0also discovered that I had wear and tear at the top of my spine and consequently, I\u2019m in a wheelchair.\u201d<\/p>\n
Judith and her daughter Kareena (Image: Robert Perry\/Newsquest)<\/p>\n
Judith is one of a group of keen swimmers around Glasgow benefitting from an innovative new lift which has been added to Scotstoun\u2019s\u00a0pool.<\/p>\n
Poolpod\u00a0is designed to help people who have mobility challenges, offering a dignified and independent way to enter and exit swimming pools. It can also be used by parents with young babies, and anyone who finds steps into the pool difficult.<\/p>\n
Developed with support from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Poolpod, which has also been implemented at Bellahouston and Tollcross, aims to promote inclusivity and provide equal access to swimming for all patrons.<\/p>\n
It comes as Glasgow prepares to welcome the biggest para-sport programme in Commonwealth Games history as host city of the 2026 event.<\/p>\n
(Image: Robert Perry\/Newsquest)<\/p>\n
Judith is a Poolpod fan, she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s brilliant, my whole quality of life has improved because I didn\u2019t like the hoist and from my point of view, with a spinal injury, I had pain,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no way I was going to continue trying to swim or even get in the pool with the hoist. With the pod, I don\u2019t feel any pain at all. I just go down, in my wheelchair, and with some help I float off my chair into the water.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Image: Robert Perry\/Newsquest)<\/p>\n
Judith adds: \u201cJust by lying back, with someone supporting me, I was able to start kicking my legs and the feeling was unbelievable. It\u2019s really a miracle.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the things I\u2019ve learned being disabled is that there are so many things you\u2019re not in control of in your life.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the pod, it\u2019s nice to know what I do will determine what happens to me. I mean, that\u2019s just a small thing, but you know it\u2019s all the small things, when they build up, that really give you a better quality of life.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Image: Robert Perry\/Newsquest)<\/p>\n
David Seager, lead sport and physical activity coach with Glasgow Life, said: \u201cAt Glasgow Life, we believe sport and physical activity should be part of everyday life and open to everyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019re so pleased to have Poolpod at Glasgow Club Scotstoun, Bellahouston and Tollcross – it\u2019s a brilliant innovation that gives people with limited mobility dignified, independent access to our swimming pools.”<\/p>\n
READ NEXT:<\/strong><\/p>\n He added: \u201cEveryone can access the pool with the pod, kids, adults, amputees, wheelchair users. There is no barrier to getting in the water.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is already making a positive difference for customers.\u00a0More people are hearing about it and joining our classes, but we\u2019ve always got room for more.\u201d<\/p>\n Glasgow Life\u2019s disability sports programme includes specialist sessions, disability multi-sports for children and young people aged from five to 15, adult disability swimming lessons and gym sessions, and inclusive community classes across the city in everything from boccia and football to basketball and cycling.<\/p>\n Glasgow 2026 will be the most inclusive Games ever staged, with 47 medal events across six sports:\u00a0para athletics, para swimming, para cycling, para bowls, para powerlifting and\u00a0integrated para wheelchair basketball events.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A sudden spinal\u00a0injury six years ago changed Judith Marshall\u2019s life. The 73-year-old, who lives in Partick, was a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425544,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7826],"tags":[145332,748,918,145329,4884,145331,712,145330,145328,102320,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-425543","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-glasgow","8":"tag-bellahouston","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-glasgow","11":"tag-glasgow-life","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-judith","14":"tag-scotland","15":"tag-spinal-cord","16":"tag-spinal-injury","17":"tag-swimming-pools","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}