September member spotlight: Meet Cornelius O’Keefe

You may well recognise Cornelius who we featured here last Autumn (pictured right with fellow member and friend Shaun). Cornelius is a long-standing member of six years and enjoys exercising at several of the SCL leisure centres so will be a familiar face to many. We’re revisiting Cornelius to find out how he’s progressing with his health and fitness journey which we’re sure you’ll agree is simply inspirational.

‘2020 was a dark time for all of us, with the outbreak of Covid. Sadly, these times had a terrible impact on my mental health, and I suffered a mental break down which resulted in me becoming extremely anxious, and depressed. I received the best help, plus my SCL family, and instructors were instrumental in helping me regain my strength and improve my mental well-being.

This year, I set myself the challenge of competing in a trilogy of events. The first event was a 1-mile swim around Derwent Water in the Lake District on 3 July, where I managed a PB of 48 minutes. I followed this up by competing in the Salford Morson Triathlon on 28 July and achieved another PB of just under 2 hours. My final competition was a Triathlon over in Ireland on 20 August where I again, achieved a PB of 1 hr 54 minutes, and finished in first place in the over 60’s age group. This is a far cry from September 2016, when as part of a 3-month program set up between Salford GP’S, and SCL, I weighed in at 17.5 stone and was totally unfit.

I set myself these challenges to demonstrate my gratitude to all the people who helped me through the dark days. I managed to raise over £700 for my chosen charity Papyrus, the Prevention of Young Suicide in the UK charity. I plan to take on further challenges in the next year, so watch this space’.