Where You
Can Be You

My name is Patrick Croke and I am 33 years old. I come from a small village in the south called carrigeen. I was born with a condition called cerebral palsy which meant I couldn’t walk properly and eventually I ended up in a wheelchair. I was left wheelchair bound at a pretty young age so I don’t actually remember been able to walk properly. But this hasn’t stopped me in any way. I have a brilliant social life and I love getting out there and mixing with people. 

My biggest hobbies in life are motorsport and I am heavily involved in rallying. I hold a full motorsport co driving licence and I have competed in  a few rallies. My biggest claim to fame was when I got to sit with Craig Breen who is a very close friend of mine. He gave me the present for my 30′h birthday to sit beside him at our local event which was The Ravens Rock stages rally in 2017 which we went on to finish on the podium and take 3’d. Overall to say this was a dream come true is an understatement. Since then I have gone on to build my own rally car, which was a major goal for me and I am enjoying living my dream racing around Ireland. 

As a wheelchair user, I find fitness a bit of a struggle. That was until I found out about lnvincABLE Fitness through a good friend of mine John Boden. He told me that he knew a girl that is after opening a gym for people who needed an extra bit of help. If I am honest before this I had joined a few gyms in Waterford and I went for a while but I found them very daunting. While sitting in the chair, I  looked around at people working very hard and pushing themselves to the limits which is brilliant, but I just felt out of place. I have been with lnvincABLE Fitness for just over a year now and I have to say I haven’t look back, you couldn’t ask for friendlier people. In the past year I have really got back into looking after myself and I am really enjoying working out. I have found my confidence really has really come on. 

The best thing I find about the gym is that they cater for each person’s needs which is brilliant because each person that uses the gym has a different story. They’re able to adjust to everyone’s needs which is very important. Like I said I really would recommend invincABLE fitness to anybody who wants to get themselves motivated. It’s really a brilliant community to be involved in. I really want to thank Rachel, Laura and the team who have taken me other there wing and worked with me for the past year. It’s been amazing and the results are starting to show. 

It’s been a roller coaster of a year with covid 19 and also I had my own troubles. Back in April I lost my younger brother Seamus. He passed away through natural causes and I found the

gym has been a big help. I just want to say a massive thank you to all you have been so kind to me. I have some big goals for next year which I can’t wait to get started on, but none of this would be possible without being active. I am really looking forward to training with lnvincABLE fitness I also want to wish them many more years of success!