Habinteg tenant Linda on cycling her way through lockdown

Linda Sargant from Rochford in Essex has been a Habinteg tenant for 22 years. She has athetoid cerebral palsy which means that she experiences muscle spasms and finds it hard to control her limbs, especially her arms.

Linda channelled her energy into doing something positive during lockdown to help raise money for charity, including the NHS which has helped her tremendously during her life.

Here Linda shares her story on her lockdown cycling challenge.

“Lockdown was tough for so many people and I really wanted to be able to help in anyway way I could, and I was determined not to let my physical challenges hold me back.

At my birth, I was starved of oxygen for 20 minutes which resulted in brain damage and being diagnosed with athetoid cerebral palsy.

The NHS has played a major role in my care, providing me with the necessary equipment, medication and personal health care I need on a daily basis. I wanted to do something to help them just like they’ve always helped me."

Cycling my way through lockdown

Linda Sargant on her exercise bike "I decided to try and see if I could manage to use an exercise bike. Now to a lot of people, this might not seem like much of a challenge. But to a wheelchair user like me, with limited control of my limbs, it was a challenge that I was ready to take on.

So I brought a basic exercise bike and attempted to ride it. The first time that I tried using it, my personal assistant had to help me make the full rotation with my weaker leg. But I persevered, it took some doing, and once I found my rhythm it became easier and I mastered it.

I have a lot of spasms in my toes, so we discovered that if we cut the toes off my slippers, they don’t get sore. Although they don’t really go with the sporting look, as you can see in my photo, my comfort is more important!

Over lockdown I raised £1,400 for the NHS and I also raised money for Children in Need."

Reaping the benefits of exercising

"I’ve upgraded my basic exercise bike to one that allows me to use my arms & legs, although I still find it difficult to do both at the same time. I now try to exercise daily. I cycle at least five miles a day and have cycled over 150km already this year.

Exercising every day has had huge benefits for me on my physical and mental health. It also helped me to sleep better at night. I’ve never slept that well at night, because of my spasms and involuntary movements, but since I’ve been exercising, I sleep a little better.

I’ve always had quite a big appetite, but now I’m mindful of what I eat and since I started exercising I’ve lost 10kg. Although losing weight was never my aim, it does prove the many health benefits of exercising.”

If you’ve got a story you’d like to share with other Habinteg tenants, please email your story to comms@habinteg.org.uk