A 21-year-old has been left bedbound after being diagnosed with glioblastoma - an aggressive form of cancer in the brain.
Owen Copland, a Liverpool John Moores University drama graduate, was given the prospect of having just days to live earlier this year when he married his girlfriend in his hospital bed.
But months on from that day, Owen was back home with his family but constrained to his bed. He was given steroids that resulted in muscle wastage, leaving him unable to walk.
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Luckily, the owner of Anytime Fitnes s, Alex Ivanoff, was quick to help out.
Owen's mum, Gill, 55, told the ECHO : "To actually listen to them, see him get motivated by them was amazing. Even when they left I thought he would say he didn't want to do it again but he said he wanted to do it!
"Alex and James came out the second week and gave us all tips. They said to use his brain, when using his stress ball to count.
"Owen hasn't picked up a pen since he was diagnosed except to sign a few consent forms, which were hardly recognisable, but he has actually got the pad and when we ask how he is feeling he writes 'feeling good'. The other day he managed to write 'good, struggled but enjoyed' and when you think about it, it's a big achievement."
Gill used to a member at Anytime Fitness in Maghull before Owen was diagnosed in November and when she contacted them she never anticipated the level of help they were going to give Owen.
The paralegal only expected a one-off session from Alex and his team of personal trainers. But, after contacting them, the team have been twice in two weeks and Gill hopes it will become a permanent routine.
Alex Ivanoff, former marine and bodyguard, opened the gym in Maghull in 2018 after being medically discharged with an anterior cruciate ligament injury. The 40-year-old told the ECHO: "I grabbed one of my PTs who is quite an expert in remedial training and we just went down there. We have put some training packages together that he can do from his bed and setting him some goals and breaking up his day by encouraging movement.
"Break up his day, get his muscles functioning and give him something to focus on. We just try to encourage positive changes and trying not to let him get into the mindset of believing he's going to be stuck in a bed. We're trying to prepare him for when he gets out. The diagnosis wasn't amazing but we're trying to make his life comfortable and give him as much focus and something fight for as possible."
The gym has also given the family resources and activities to do in their own time. From exercises to listening to podcasts.
Gill said: "He's looking stronger, his food intake is increasing and after his exercises he's having a glass of water so I feel like he really is getting a work out now."
"We're splitting up his day with mornings and evenings, and it's not always exercises. They've given us websites to look at, podcasts for motivation and massages. If Owen doesn't want to do an exercise I can give him a head massage or a foot massage. It gives him structure."
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