Jack Rutter
Jack was born in 1981, but at the age of 18,
Was punched in his face so he was out clean,
He fell backwards to hit his skull on the kerb,
Which haemorrhaged his brain to fully curb,
His future as a Birmingham City footballer.
He’d been with the Blues since he was ten,
So after intensive care and recuperation’s den,
He flitted from local club to local club insane,
‘Cos it was so hard with his imbalance skein,
Neither could he twist nor head confidently.
Two years later, in 2011, after that fierce attack,
And after extensive rehabilitation - not to lack,
Because Jack was left with mild Cerebral Palsy,
The charity Headway pointed him to sport by CP,
So he joined the England 7-a-side footballers.
He’s captain of the team with his experience,
‘Cos many of the others were born, deliverance,
With CP, and so they don’t have leadership skills,
Or the training you get from the big clubs’ bills:
Jack is proud to encourage the squad on or off.
He is a mentor on Dame Kelly Holmes Trust, focus,
On the Get On Track program he does direct, locus,
And he’s behind other young people’s programs,
Like AQA Unlocking Potential to give people grams,
To enrol in college or Uni, or to train or to find work.
Jack’s attacker got a sentence of twelve months,
In a young offenders institution to wear the cloths,
But he only served six of them, such a light penalty,
For a sudden life-change, a twist to redirect destiny,
And Jack’s never set eyes on him again, no wish to.
He’s going to Rio to play firstly against the Japanese,
Where he’ll bask in the sun, so different from freeze,
He came 9th at the Intercontinentals 2013, the way up,
5th at the Euro Championships 2014, success to sup,
Then 5th at the Worlds in 2015, an even better victory.
Copyright © Dominique Webb | Year Posted 2016
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