The first week in Pforzheim is over and I’m exhausted.

This is the routine: I’m getting up at 6am and get myself and Pádraig ready. We go over to have breakfast in the main building, a 5-10 min walk, taking into account the lifts and road crossings involved. We have breakfast there. Then therapy, three hours of physio, starting at 8am. There’s one lead therapist, an intern and myself. We follow a programme involving stretches, standing exercises and walking. At 11am Pádraig has an hour of SLT. The programme finishes with an hour in the robotic walking machine, the Lokomat. We make lunch usually for 1.30pm, just before the kitchen closes. Back at the apartment at 2.30/3pm. We take an hour or two of a rest and go out for 2-3 hours, either just for a walk or to go shopping. While we had dinner in the centre for the first few days, we’ve started to have it in the apartment – being able to choose what to eat is more attractive than German-style Abendbrot. Padraig goes to sleep at around 9pm, leaving an hour or two to chill. Before I go to bed, I turn Pádraig; and then again at around 2 or 3am.

Tomorrow morning, we’ll all have a well-deserved lie in.