Georg Herdt, Brookes Sport Ambassador

Hi my name is Georg Herdt and in 1980, I was born with a rare genetic disability called Friedreich's Ataxia (FRDA). As I grew up, the condition showed itself now and then but remained mainly unnoticed and therefore, undiagnosed. Born into a rowing family, I was a keen athlete, and I did an intense amount of exercise. One might say excessive, and I won several national rowing competitions. The few signs of Friedreich's Ataxia that I had over the years were shrugged off as clumsiness rather than a sign of my illness.

After leaving school, I did my civic duty, the national service in Germany (as a paratrooper), went to university, got married and started a family. All in all, a pretty ordinary, happy life. It was not until my early 30's that the disease took hold and wreaked havoc, forcing me to stop pursuing my career in academia.

I firmly believe that the only thing that has kept me moving on my legs, quite literally, has been the level of exercise I did as a young man. This is where Brookes Sport have come in; they support me in maintaining the overall fitness that ensures me to live a healthy life. They are helping me to get back to the excessive, yet supervised, levels of exercise I did in my youth, to defeat the physical degeneration that Friedreich's Ataxia imposes.