A weightlifter from Belvedere has come back from serious illness to win silver in the London Youth Games.
In February Joe Brooker, 18, was stuck down with ulcerative colitis which left him off school and unable to train for three months.
Joe, who has just finished his A-levels at Trinity School in Belvedere, made a video diary of his comeback and posted it on YouTube.
By the time of the games at Crystal Palace last weekend (July 5-6) he had had very little opportunity to train.
Despite this Joe, who lives in Bedonwell Road, still managed to come second overall with a total of 217kg for the snatch and the clean and jerk.
He was also second overall for Bexley in the joint competition with partner Jojo Stacey.
The Great Britain Talent Squad member told News Shopper: “I only actually trained for about two months for this as I was really badly ill.
“Despite that I matched my personal best in competition in the snatch and there’s still plenty more in the tank.
"My focus is now on the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the Olympics in 2020."
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