71-year-old boxing coach provides lifeline for Parkinson’s sufferers

If you ask him, he will say “I’m just Tommy O’Connor with the shakes” but if you speak to his clients he is “a selfless man who works hard to keep Parkinson’s survivors mobile and fit” and “a true lifeline to those living with an incurable condition”.

The 71-year-old, who opened Rock Steady Boxing Widnes and Warrington five years ago, is Warrington’s Best for Fitness 2024, as voted for by his customers together with followers and readers of the Warrington Guardian.

In April, we launched our Best of 2024 competition and we’ve given out eight awards.

• Best for Hair - Kate Lucy Hair Studio

• Best for Pies - Tomlins Bakehouse

• Best for Nails - By Maisie Beck

• Best for Roast Dinner - The Blue Bell

• Best for Cocktails - Dead Eyes

• Best for Breakfast - The Blue Bell

• Best for Fish and Chips - Plaice Station

• Best Beer Garden - The Ferry Tavern

Voting for Warrington’s Best for Tattoos is currently taking place and we’re also looking for nominations in our latest search - Best Independent Shop of Business.

Vote for Warrington’s Best for Tattoos 2024

Nominate your favourite for Warrington’s Best Independent Shop or Business 2024

Ten top instructors in Warrington made the shortlist for this year’s Best for Fitness and Tommy O’Connor has taken this year’s coveted crown – and he’s a popular winner.

He opened the first Rock Steading Boxing gym in Widnes in 2019 with a Warrington gym opening at unit six Crown Street in January.

Tommy, who will be 72 in three weeks, said: “The vision of Rock Steady Boxing Widnes & Warrington is to maximise the mental, emotional and physical potential of people with Parkinson’s disease throughout their everyday lives.

“The program helps them to adapt, eliminating the commonly occurring negative self-talk or self–image accompanying a degenerative, presently incurable illness.

“We emphasise the enhancements that are possible so they can increase their quality of life as well as their ability to enjoy activities of daily living.

“This is accomplished through an intensive and rigorous regime with exercise plans that are delivered in a welcoming, professional and supportive environment.

“We moved into our new Warrington gym and hub in January this year, due to the diversity of Parkinson’s sufferers joining the club.

“We need to run a hub so we can provide more sessions and have space to call our own.”

The new Warrington hub on Crown Street

Tommy lives with Parkinson’s.

While he was serving in the army, he was part of the boxing team, and when he retired he continued his fitness journey in a gym, with boot camps, boxercise classes and PT sessions.

Tommy said: “Once I received my diagnosis, I was determined to fight back, as I fully understood first-hand the issues faced by people diagnosed with Parkinson’s and the benefits of exercise in fighting back against the disease.

“With lots of research, I came across the Rock Steady Boxing programme in the United States.

“With help from friends, family and ex-Army pals, we raised funds to send me over to America so I could receive the training.

“That seems so long ago now.

“I just knew while I was there that I wanted to bring everything back to the UK and show other Parkinson’s sufferers that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

“They don’t need to sit in an arm chair shaking, thinking this is it!

“I was nervous that Rock Steady Boxing wouldn’t appeal to Parkinson’s sufferers in the UK but I was proved wrong.

“Our sessions went from strength to strength and people would travel from all over the country to exercise with us.

“The more sessions we added, the more the boxers came and filled each session.

“We have become the UK advocate for Rock Steady Boxing, becoming the first UK training site, so other coaches don’t need to travel to America.

“This means more Parkinson’s sufferers will be able to fight back.

“We have three coaches of our own who cover all nine sessions each week.

“Without my trusted coaches and amazing volunteers, we just simply would not be as successful as we are now.

“It’s blown me away what we have achieved in just five years.”

Tommy firmly believes that exercise is the key to coping with chronic conditions like Parkinson’s but understands that everyone has different symptoms.

This is why the Rock Steady Boxing programme is tailored to each individual and their needs, even if they need a wheelchair or walk with sticks.

Rock Steady Boxing coaches Jordan Berry, Karn Ollier and Tony Harper

Tommy said: “Our classes are second to none.

“We are inclusive and we have an amazing team of coaches and volunteers, who help our sessions run smoothly.

“The camaraderie, the support and the positivity is amazing.

“It’s not all about exercise, it’s about giving our Parkinson’s sufferers a sense of belonging and a sense of community.

“We are always there for carers, friends and family as well as the individual.

“A discovery of a cure may be many years away, but as we go into our sixth year, the evidence shows that progress is being made in all stages of Parkinson’s sufferers by those participating in the Rock Steady Boxing program.”

What do Tommy’s clients think about him and the program for Parkinson’s? Why did they think Tommy should win our latest award?

We were inundated with nominations for Tommy with one regular gymgoer saying he’s “a selfless man who works so hard to keep Parkinsons survivors mobile and fit”.

Another said: “They keep us steady and balanced and less of a strain on the NHS.

“They understand what we’re going through and are absolutely amazing.”

Tommy said: “I’m still very humble about becoming such a success and having grown so much.

“I know how every single boxer feels after their diagnosis – it’s so hard getting your head around what you have been told.

“You sit back, think and then ask what happens next.

“My advice would be to fight back.

“My great team of coaches have the same ethos as me.

“They have a great camaraderie with the boxers, and our motto is ’you leave Parkinson’s at the gym door’.

“We understand that taking that first step into a gym - with or without Parkinson’s - can be daunting but once you enter, we are there by your side, whether you walk in, come in on sticks or a frame or even if you need to use a wheelchair.

“Seeing the success of everyone who comes to our gym is amazing.

“They always leave the building taller, stronger and more confident.

“Watching the coaches use their skills to encourage each and every Parkinson’s boxer, to lift their spirits and mental well-being is fantastic.

“Seeing someone gingerly attend their first session and leave walking on cloud nine having accomplished something through their exercise that they never thought possible again is a sight I will never tire of.”

Tommy was humbled and shocked to hear he’d made the shortlist for Warrington’s Best for Fitness and he believes it’s down to the hard-working team behind him at Rock Stead Boxing Widnes and Warrington.

Tommy said: “To realise that I am thought of so highly by so many people is just indescribable.

“I’m just Tommy O’Connor with the shakes, who loves to exercise and show others they can still exercise too.

“I have an excellent team behind me that are second to none and without my family’s support and the support of the coaches, boxers and volunteers, Rock Steady Boxing wouldn’t be the success it is today.

“I might be named the winner, but all of our boxers are the winners.

“They show up, they fight back and they make our club what it is.

“A huge thank you to my family and friends, the coaches and our volunteers for everything they’ve done over the past five years.

“And last but not least, thank you to the massive team of Parkinson’s warriors.

“They are our superheroes and without them we simply wouldn’t exist.”