My name is Kelly Dean. I live and work in Worthing, West Sussex. I am married to a very keen triathlete and have two sons.
I
grew up surrounded by sporting influences and still today have
interests in many different sports, some of which take me literally
from one extreme to another - from ice climbing to scuba diving.
In
my spare time I love to travel - whether it be to weird and wonderful
exotic places or back to the place where I spent my early childhood
years; the beautiful countryside and coastlines of Carmarthenshire in
South West Wales.
I have had my own experience of pain and know how it feels to be unable to live life to the fullest. In April 2007 I had an accident whilst climbing on
an indoor climbing wall, which left me with a ruptured anterior
cruciate ligament. For many months prior to my operation, I feared that the injury would prevent me from continuing the sports that I loved. It's thanks to an excellent orthopaedic surgeon and commitment to a comprehensive physiotherapy programme
that I was able to return to an active and healthy way of life.
Professional training and qualifications.
It was probably my love of sports and the inevitable
injuries that I sustained that eventually led me to become a Sports
Therapist.
I graduated from Chichester with an Advanced
Diploma in Sports Therapy, encompassing a diploma in Sports Nutrition.
I went on to gain additional qualifications in the treatment and
management of sports injuries with both the Football Association and
the Society of Sports Therapists.
My Sports Therapy qualifications led me to work with footballers, basketball players, triathletes, and cricketers from all levels of sporting ability right up to international professional athletes. After a few years I got tired of having to get up at six am on a sunday morning to stand by the side of a football pitch (usually in the cold rain) and I decided to become clinic based.
I studied advanced remedial
massage techniques with the International Institute of Health &
Holistic therapists and then went on to begin my studies in the Vodder technique of
Manual Lymphatic Drainage at the Clare Maxwell-Hudson school in
London.
My
interest in lymphology and associated pathologies
led me to further studying at the Vodder school in Walchsee, Austria
where I completed my Combined Decongestive Therapy qualifications under
the watchful eye of Professor Hildegarde Wittlinger. I continue to study and attend bi-annual review programmes which enable me to keep
practising MLD to the highest standard.
I
understand and know what it's like when you are unable to continue with
a sport or a certain way of life because of injury or illness and that
is why I continue to study to be able to provide the best treatment and
rehabilitation advice to my patients.
Above: Me taken at on holiday in Colorado, USA Right: Training at the Dr. Vodder School, Walchsee, Austria, July 2008
