Army men's rugby union head coach on his Parkinson's battle as he nears end of charity cycle
The head coach of the British Army men's rugby union team has opened up about his battle with Parkinson's Disease, and his deep motivation as he powers through his very personal challenge to cycle 1,000kms in one month.
Lieutenant Colonel Tim Osman, who was diagnosed almost seven years ago, is cycling in aid of Parkinson's UK.
He began on World Parkinson’s Day on 11 April and the challenge will culminate on Saturday 11 May – when the men's and women's Army and RAF sides meet at Gloucester in the highly anticipated final round of the Inter Service Championship.
Lt Col Osman told BFBS Sport's Jon Knighton physical exercise helps with his routine, aiming to delay progression of some of the symptoms.
He said: "There's a lot of people who've got a lot of issues, or injuries, or illnesses or disabilities or whatever you want to call it, afflictions, problems – it's part of life really.
"It hampers me a bit, but it’s manageable. I take a lot of pills a lot of the time and try and, not ignore it, but try and keep as normal a life as I can, that's my way of dealing with it.
"I've good days and bad days, like most people do, but it's just getting on with it really, as I say.
"Having that routine, having a focus and a drive and this is certainly, probably in the rugby sense over the last month, given me a distraction from rugby, otherwise it’s full on all the time. In a funny kind of way, it’s helped just let me focus on a little bit of something else in the downtime."
Watch the video above to hear more from Lt Col Osman.
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