QVH reunion for Paris ParalympicsGB team mates
Friday 27th December 2024

Paralympic table-tennis star Will Bayley had a reunion with a ParalympicsGB team-mate when he visited Queen Victoria Hospital (QVH) in East Grinstead in his role as an ambassador for the QVH Charity.
Will, 36, a veteran of five Paralympic Games and winner of seven medals, was on a tour of the hospital, meeting QVH staff and patients, and showing off his gold medal from Rio 2016 and his silver medal from Paris 2024.
In Paris he lost by just one point in the final, where he was cheered on by hundreds of supporters and teammates in the 6000 strong crowd.
One of those supporters was the Lead Nurse for ParalympicsGB, Kim Brinkworth, who is also a Ward Manager at QVH.
A picture showing the two celebrating in Paris circulated across social media back in the summer, and last week they were back together again, when Will walked around the ward which Kim manages.
Will said: “It was great to see Kim. We have both been to five Paralympic Games together, starting in Beijing, all the way up to Paris this year. She is brilliant and she was great supporting me in the matches I played. She and all the medical teams do a great job at the games.”
Kim added: “Will is such an engaging personality and it was so much fun in Paris – as with all the Games – and it was great to take breaks from my nursing role to support him in the matches he played. It was so lovely to bump into him today.”
Is there any chance of one last dance in Los Angeles in 2028?
Kim said: “I don’t know – I’ve been doing it for a while now. But then again it is LA!”
Will is more certain. “Paris was unbelievable: 6000 in the arena, one table, lose by one point in the final, it was like a movie. Losing was difficult to take but you move on. It is LA! I reckon I can give it another go. What a way to bow out that will be!”
For more information please email the QVH Press Office at qvh.communications@nhs.net