Matt Hampson: Ex-Leicester Tigers & England U21 prop on life-changing injury
How many people have been supported by the foundation and the center over the years, Hampson cannot have the exact number.
But hundreds of people seek access to professional physical therapists, professional personal trainers, health support, and centers tailored healthy living advice.
Accommodation has been recently established there to help provide a higher level of access, and there are further reconstruction plans and aspire to expand its reach in satellite centers across the country.
Some people who travelled through the center even competed for athletes at the Paralympic Games. These include Nick Cummins and Jamie Stead, both part of the Paralympic GHERMPICSGB Gold Medal Championship Wheelchair Rugby Team at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
Graham Lee, a grand National Championship jockey who was injured in 2024 in a riding accident, went straight from the hospital to the center and began his recovery.
“I left the van the second second, and Matt was there,” Lee said. “He was a class behavior in every aspect.”
When Hampson was 40 last year, he talked about his pride in himself and the people he worked with, “shake everything for the world with disabilities.”
“The world is more inclusive. You existed then,” Hampson said, saying the support he received after leaving the hospital due to his injury.
“Now you can be busy with life and do things. It’s a challenge, every day is a challenge, but it makes it pleasant and worth it.
“You feel like you are actually getting to somewhere, actually changing the world of people with disabilities, but also changing the world of many others.
“I’m very proud of what we’re doing here.”
