Against All Odds

When two police officers arrived out of the blue at Paul Connelly's door, he learned the shocking news that, out of the 10 children with whom he had shared a dormitory in care, only two were still alive. The revelation unearthed painful memories of a childhood that, until this point, Paul had tried desperately to put behind him. Abandoned there at two weeks old, Paul came of age in the infamous St. Leonard's Children's Home in East London. The children there were routinely abused, often over the course of many years. All were underfed, unloved, and told that they would amount to nothing. Angry and frustrated, Paul channeled his rage into boxing—but when an accident shattered his ambition to turn professional, he found his true calling and became a successful trainer, even working as a consultant on Elle Macpherson's The Body video. Paul has finally found peace and fulfillment beyond anything he could have imagined all those years ago. He now helps to heal broken bodies, build confidence, and transform lives—but he will never forget his past and the unnecessary victims of a broken society.