![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/eeabaabf3ff8611f936b6c383c0af423.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\nTony Deeney was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at just 38 and the degenerative condition gradually left feeling isolated and with little enthusiasm for life.<\/p>\n
But after two decades struggling with the condition, he says cycling has helped him rediscover a sense of independence.<\/p>\n
Tony says he first knew something was wrong when he struggled to strum a tune on his guitar.<\/p>\n
He was a keen guitarist but suddenly his fingers would not move to find the different notes.<\/p>\n
Soon after, the father of two young children was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, a condition in which parts of the brain become progressively damaged over many years.<\/p>\n
It can cause tremors, balance problems and slow movement.<\/p>\n
Tony was told he might only have between five and eight “good” years left before his symptoms would worsen.<\/p>\n
In the end, with advancements in medication and support from his colleagues, it was 11 years before Tony had to retire from his job as a physics teacher.<\/p>\n
It was when he retired that he noticed a drop in his enjoyment for life.<\/p>\n
“It’s the dark side of Parkinson’s,” Teresa says.<\/p>\n
“There is a loss that is almost depressive.”<\/p>\n
Tony, who can now only manage a few words, calls it “apathy”.<\/p>\n
He would often stay in the house watching television and sometimes couldn’t be bothered to shower.<\/p>\n
The couple say Parkinson’s can be isolating because of the way symptoms present themselves.<\/p>\n
It was almost 10 years after his retirement that Tony discovered the benefits of exercise for people with Parkinson’s.<\/p>\n
“It became a real game-changer for him,” Teresa says.<\/p>\n
He started playing table tennis as well as “walking football”, aimed at Parkinson’s suffers.<\/p>\n
It was when he tried chair yoga that a friend encouraged him to attend a cycling club.<\/p>\n
‘Transformative is an understatement’<\/p>\n
Tony was apprehensive and almost refused to go but Teresa convinced him to try it.<\/p>\n
“To say it was transformative is an understatement,” she says.<\/p>\n
She says she was close to tears when Tony’s face lit up during his first class.<\/p>\n
“From day one, the joy and freedom he has experienced has been life-changing for him – he can cycle on his own,” she says.<\/p>\n
“This cycling club has given Tony his independence back.”<\/p>\n
Tony agrees that the club has given him a “sense of independence” but he says he still has to rely on his wife.<\/p>\n
Teresa says Tony’s confidence has improved because it is something he is able to do on his own. He’s now even got his own scooter.<\/p>\n
“It’s opened up the outside world for him again,” Teresa says.<\/p>\n
“We went for a walk and he was in [the scooter]. I can’t remember the last time we did that.”<\/p>\n
“It’s such an ordinary thing that people take for granted and don’t even notice, but for us, that’s major.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The cycling club uses side-by-side tandem bikes made by Van Raam [BBC]<\/p>\n
Community and support<\/p>\n
The Parkinson’s Cycling sessions are run twice a month by the Phoenix Community Centre in Easterhouse, on the outskirts of Glasgow.<\/p>\n
They use specially designed tricycles for people with a disability made by the Dutch company Van Raam.<\/p>\n
Some of their features include power assisted cycling, a moving chair for accessibility and dual control so that someone can cycle with a partner.<\/p>\n
The Phoenix Centre also has a pop up caf\u00e9 at the side of the sports hall to encourage connection and community.<\/p>\n
Director Caroline Cumming says: “Even if you only wanted to have a short cycle. You can sit down have a chat, have a cup of tea or a coffee.”<\/p>\n
“You don’t even have to cycle.”<\/p>\n
Teresa and Tony said maintaining a connection was very important for people with Parkinson’s.<\/p>\n
They say groups for people with the disease help to ease their worry because they don’t have to explain why they struggle to speak or walk.<\/p>\n
Teresa says that everyone supports each other and create a positive space.<\/p>\n
![\"Caroline](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/17502d7c381b6b4ff984d00692058b1f.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Caroline is keen to encourage community throughout her classes [BBC]<\/p>\n
Exercise as medicine<\/p>\n
Parkinson’s symptoms arise after substantial loss of the dopamine-producing cells in an area of the brain known as the substantia nigra.<\/p>\n
Amanda Mckay, from Parkinson’s UK, said that there are over 40 different types of symptoms and “no two people are the same.”<\/p>\n
As people live longer with the condition, symptoms can become more aggressive and debilitating \u2013 which can impact mobility and stability significantly.<\/p>\n
Ms McKay says: “I think the key is to encourage people with Parkinson’s to be active, that’s a prescription in itself.”<\/p>\n
She says it is important for people to find something they enjoy doing because then they are likely to do it more often.<\/p>\n
Physiotherapist lecturer David Hegarty says exercise has similar benefits to medicine for Parkinson’s patients without the side effects.<\/p>\n
People build stronger muscles and better cardiovascular fitness, which in turn reduces symptoms, he says.<\/p>\n
And Teresa Deeney agrees.<\/p>\n
“The independence, joy and fitness it gives my husband is a tonic to his health and mental wellbeing,” she says.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tony Deeney was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at just 38 and the degenerative condition gradually left feeling isolated and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4690,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[64,63,6480,6481,137,6479,6477,6484,6482,6483,6478],"class_list":["post-4689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cycling-club","tag-degenerative-condition","tag-health","tag-independence","tag-parkinsons-symptoms","tag-teresa","tag-teresa-deeney","tag-tony","tag-tony-deeney"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4689\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}