A former Woking FC goalkeeper is facing the second half of the decade with a new lease of life after overcoming a stroke and the loss of two loved ones to open a gym and pilates studio in West Byfleet.

Ali Turpie has opened Calm & Chaos in Botanical Place five years after an ischemic stroke left the fitness fanatic with limited movement and speech.

“It’s been a lifelong dream to bring this to fruition,” said the 33-year-old former Sky Sports and BT Sports director.

“In lockdown 2020 someone close to me committed suicide and there were no warning signs. It got me wanting to help people as much as I could because it brought back my own feelings about my dad.

“So I started to run 10k and did that every day for 28 days. It was called 10k Turpey and ITV were going to do a piece.

“But then I had a massive stroke. For someone who was 28, fit and healthy, I just couldn’t believe it.”

Ali went through two-and-a-half years of intensive speech therapy while his in-laws allowed him to turn a garage into a gym. He long harboured ambitions of opening his own gym after leaving BT, with encouragement from his wife pushing him to Botanical Place.

Ali says the C&C target audience is 40s to 60s with the setup also including a reception, areas for pilates, meditation, yoga and a treatment room, with personal training being “delivered in small groups.”

He added: “It was chaos before the stroke, then I needed to practice a bit of calm. I’m so happy to be here, in every sense of the term.”

For more details visit www.calmandchaos.io