We’re used to seeing Mr Motivator on television screens, with his big smile, unique upbeat style and brightly coloured Lycra. But many people won’t know, he’s also an expert at helping devise exercise programmes for people with a range of very challenging medical conditions.
Now he’s teamed up with Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, in volunteering to help improve the fitness of patients who’ve experienced heart failure, by making a new home exercise video.
The patients can follow different movements, which would usually be prescribed to them by a specialist physiotherapist.
Derrick Evans MBE, famous as Mr Motivator, says: “I saw this as an opportunity to reach a small group of people with a need, that I wanted to help.
“When it came to putting this together, I listened to professional advice and then presented the moves in the Mr Motivator style.
“I always say – let’s make it safe, let’s make it effective, but most of all let’s make it fun. That way it will entice anybody, no matter what condition they’re dealing with.”
Ruth Bradley, a Specialist Physiotherapist in Heart and Lung Transplants at Wythenshawe Hospital, reached out to Mr Motivator, with her special request.
The unit she works in covers a massive geographical area in the North of England, which stretches from the Lake District, down to Stoke and across to Leeds.
Ruth says, “We wanted to help patients access some exercise at home, as we couldn’t put on classes covering such a large area.
“Some of them really do need motivating and one day I thought, who better to help them, than Mr Motivator!”
The new programme is specifically for patients who have a lifesaving electric pump device fitted to make their hearts pump, called a Left Ventricular Assist Device, or LVAD.
These machines are used by people who are experiencing left ventricular heart failure. They can improve their quality of life, whilst they’re waiting for a heart transplant.
Ruth comments: “To be eligible for a heart transplant, you can’t be frail. You have to be as fit as you can be, within the limits of your condition.
“These patients need help with exercise and keeping fit, before and after their operations, or to manage their condition.
