A London MP has spoken out about his struggles at school after an accident left him needing a hip replacement when he was just a teenager.
Beckenham and Penge MP Liam Conlon used his maiden speech in the House of Commons to highlight the work of the NHS and the challenges disabled people face.
He was left unable to walk for four years from the age of 13 and had to be held back a year at school because of the amount of time he spent in hospital.
Mr Conlon was treated at the Royal London Hospital and then later the National Orthopaedic Hospital. He had 10 major surgeries as a teenager.
“When I was 13, the day after we had broken up for the summer holidays in year 8, I had an accident in which I shattered my right hip, which led to irreversible damage to my hip and spine,” Mr Conlon told the Commons on Thursday.
“From that point onwards I was unable to walk for four years.”
Constituency boundaries were redrawn to create the Beckenham and Penge parliamentary seat for the 2024 general election.
Mr Conlon, who is the son of former Labour chief of staff Sue Gray, is the first Labour MP to ever represent Beckenham.
He added: "As a sixth former I became one of the youngest people in Britain to have a hip replacement.
“Throughout those years I spent nearly as much time on NHS children's wards as I did in the school classroom. So much so that I had to drop most of my GCSEs to focus on my core subjects and I was then forced to go back a year at school.
"Every year hundreds of children in Britain are admitted to long term care in NHS hospitals just like I was.
“But whilst in many ways a grim reality, my experience of NHS children's wards, especially at the Royal London Hospital, was that they are also places of great hope, deep compassion and world class care.
"Today I want to say thank you to the countless NHS staff and volunteers who helped me throughout those years. They quite literally got me back on my feet and pave the way for me to become the first in my family to go to university.
"To the consultants and surgeons, physios, junior doctors, nurses, receptionist hospital cleaning staff - thank you. I will pay my gratitude to you forward by using my voice in this place to fight for the NHS, just like the NHS fought for me."
