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Laura’s a chip off the
old block
21.06.10
Buncrana girl follows
in father’s footsteps
by Damian Dowds, Inishowen
Independent
THERE was, perhaps, something inevitable about the
career that Buncrana girl Laura Reid chose. The
former Scoil Íosagáin and Scoil Mhuire pupil
completed a degree in sports therapy at the
University of Birmingham and is currently studying
part time for a Masters Degree in Osteopathy at the
British College of Osteopathic Medicine in London.
Her father Bosco is well known locally, having
worked as an osteopath in Buncrana for many years.
For the past 12 months and more, Laura has practiced
sports therapy alongside her father.
“I used to work as secretary in my dad’s practice,
so I’ve always been interested in healing injuries
and osteopathy,” she said. “I saw the results that
he got when he worked with people and was impressed
by that – it was a great motivation for me to keep
going. |
“He taught me a lot of
things, and he’s great to bounce things off,” she
said. “I’m at a bit of an advantage over other
students doing the Masters because my dad is like a
walking, talking textbook for me.”
Sports therapy is a discipline that’s specifically
concerned with the prevention of injury and the
rehabilitation of the patient back to optimum levels
of fitness, regardless of age and ability.
It’s based on the principles of sport and exercise
sciences, incorporating physiological and
pathological processes, to prepare the participant
for training, competition and, where relevant, work.
Sport was an important part of Laura’s life before
sports therapy came along, and it continues to play |
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a big part.
“I’ve always been interested in and involved in
sport,” she says. “As a child, I was into athletics,
Gaelic football and golf and at the moment I’m
trying to get into cycling and swimming.”
She also lines out with Illies in the Inishowen
Ladies Soccer League. Good enough to have been a
Republic of Ireland schoolgirl triallist, she
currently plays up front for Illies but prefers the
left side of midfield.
While in Birmingham she played Gaelic football with
the John Mitchel’s club. “I really enjoyed it, it
was like a little piece of home and was a great way
to meet other Irish girls – including some from
Buncrana.”
After completing her Leaving Certificate, the 21
year-old studied sports therapy at university in
Birmingham, a period she describes as probably the
best three years of her life.
“It was a massive change from Buncrana – a real
culture shock. Birmingham’s a very multi-cultural
city and I just loved every minute of it.”
She was required to produce a dissertation as part
of her degree, and having spent a season working
with the Buncrana Gaelic footballers that had
yielded a wealth of first hand information on sports
injuries, she decided to work on the little known
connection between pelvic alignment and hamstring
injuries.
“Daddy had spoken about it, and Michael Owen [the
current Man Utd striker] had problems with it, so it
was on my mind when my tutor asked about a topic for
my dissertation,” she recalled. “Because of the
demands of Gaelic football, hamstring injuries are
very common and I had a lot of information collected
from working with the Buncrana footballers.”
The 10,000 word dissertation became all consuming.
Laura recalls taking it away with her on a family
holiday, refining and painstakingly honing it into
something she was happy with. She did determine a
link between pelvic misalignment and hamstring
injuries. Pelvic misalignment has a number of
causes, including poor posture and too much sitting
at desks at school or work.
“There are, of course, treatments available and
exercises that can be done to alleviate the
problem,” Laura says. “Pelvic misalignment can also
lead to lower back pain but it’s very treatable.”
At the practice she shares with her father in
Buncrana, Laura sees a mixture of patients of all
ages. From sportspeople suffering from ankle
injuries to more elderly patients suffering from
arthritis. Lately, she has been working with
cyclists in the Four Masters Cycling club as she
extends her experience. Cyclists have different body
shapes, and encounter different injuries to
footballers or runners, and the experience of
working with the Four Masters club will, Laura
believes, stand to her in the long run.
In addition to practising in Buncrana, she travels
to London every three weeks as part of her Masters
course.
“Taking on a five year part time course so soon
after doing my BSc was a big decision to make,” she
adds, “but I’ve done it and will work hard on it.”
“The sports therapy degree, and my work on patients,
has been a great foundation for the Masters in
Osteopathy. It has made me very comfortable with
patients and has given me a really good grounding.”
Starting in July, Laura will write a series on
articles in the Inishowen Independent based on her
dissertation and giving general advice on health and
fitness. |
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