A VIRUTAL gym at an Oxford hospital has been transforming the lives of children, including a boy suffering from chronic pain.

Bryn Baber-Day, 10, has been using the new hi-tech gym at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington to help him cope with complex regional pain syndrome [CRPS].

This comes after the gym was officially opened on Monday after being completed with all the equipment – a year on after the facility started being used.

Parents and patients gathered for a party to mark the occasion.

The schoolboy from Oxford injured his left ankle after a trampoline accident in April last year and developed the syndrome, which left him in agony.

But after a £50,000 investment to develop the gym with virtual technology, the youngster can now exercise and relieve his pain.

Bryn’s chronic pain had spread from his ankle to his right wrist and forced him to endure sleepless nights, be confined to a wheelchair and miss school.

Bryn said: “The gym’s good – I think it’s helpful for people like me – I like the rowing machine the best.”

Bryn’s mother, Alison Day, added: “We were at a loss because he wasn’t diagnosed with anything before we were referred here.

“He was in a wheelchair for seven months and on crutches.

“It overwhelmed his life because he couldn’t do anything and he was active and did what nine year olds do, like climbing trees and running.

“It was devastating, but now he is back to school and he is back doing all the things he missed out on with his friends.”

The gym features an interactive wall, which patients can use to exercise, as well as games consoles and other cardio machines.

It was used partially by patients in 2014, but now it features bikes, treadmills, rowing machines and has been decorated to entertain youngsters.

Each piece of equipment is connected to a computer screen, displaying a representation of the patient in a computer game exercising and in various environments.

The speed of the avatar is controlled by the movement of the patient on the bike, which aims to engage the patient in activity and take focus away from the pain.

Mrs Day added: “It’s an amazing facility and Bryn loves the gym. Now his condition is almost completely better.

“I feel that without this facility he wouldn’t have got better.

“He is like a new child and now we can move forward as a family.”

CRPS is a condition in which a person experiences persistent severe and debilitating pain.

Bryn will visit the gym on a regular basis and can now enjoy being pain-free with his sister Lydia, 16, three brothers, Felix, 13, Laurence, eight, Miles, six and dad Darren.

The gym also aids the rehabilitation of children and teenagers following orthopaedic and spinal surgery.

Julia Smith, specialist paediatric physiotherapist at the NOC, said: “The interactive equipment adds a new dimension to exercising and acts as a distraction for patients who can focus on the screen and what their ‘character’ is achieving, rather than focusing on any pain, stiffness or fatigue they may feel.

“By making exercise enjoyable and by encouraging patients to participate regularly, not only does it help them to increase their strength and manage their condition, but can also help increase their confidence.”