Reverend’s life transformed after £25k op
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| The Reverend Brian Harris, with his wife, Molly, has had a successful operation to cure cluster headaches |
TWELVE years of his life were blighted by a stabbing pain so severe that this retired vicar was left feeling suicidal.
But today, the Rev Brian Harris is at last pain-free after a group of church charities joined forces to fund the £25,000 operation that North Yorkshire's cash-strapped health trust denied him.
Surgery was the only treatment that offered a potential cure for the cluster headaches that had destroyed his life for 12 years.
Now, nearly two months after a successful occipital nerve stimulation implant operation, the 69-year-old, of Rawcliffe, York, said his life had been transformed.
Mr Harris said: "I cannot put it into words how grateful I am. After all these years, I've finally got my life back and it's absolutely brilliant.
"I used to get two or three attacks a day. It's called the suicide headache because the pain is so acute is makes people desperate.
"It was like a constant terrible pressure behind my eye and on the left side of my head and when it got really bad, the intensity was excruciating.
"I found it difficult to think or do anything."
Mr Harris was recommended for a surgically-implanted occipital nerve stimulator by his consultant at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London.
It consists of a battery pack implanted into the abdomen, with very thin wires running from the box up the body to four electrodes, which are placed onto the occipital nerve.
When the power is turned on, tiny electrical impulses are carried from the occipital nerve through to the brain, where they override the abnormal activity that triggers the headaches.
Mr Harris worked as a vicar in the parish of Hemingbrough before being forced to take early retirement in 1995 because of his condition.
He said: "I was so disappointed when North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust (PCT) turned me down and I couldn't believe how lucky I was when help came from the charities.
"I am so grateful to them for finding the funding for me, but it shouldn't have been that way.
"The headaches were spoiling my life and the operation was something that I desperately needed. I believe the NHS should have been able to fund it."
A spokesman for the PCT previously told The Press that they were unable to discuss individual cases due to patient confidentiality.
But he said when treatments were not routinely commissioned by the local NHS, they were referred to a panel of clinicians to consider the evidence.
Last month we revealed how more than 1,000 patients in York and North Yorkshire were denied treatment by this panel - including hundreds of people suffering from serious illnesses such as cancer.
Have your say
Should more funding be
available for operations?
1:26pm Friday 28th March 2008
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CommentPosted by: Galloway Out on 2:05pm Fri 28 Mar 08
He wasnt feeling suicidal. He said some people refer to it as the "suicide headache" but nowhere in the articel does he say he was suicidal. A bit of sensationalism there I think Nicola.
He wasnt feeling suicidal. He said some people refer to it as the "suicide headache" but nowhere in the articel does he say he was suicidal. A bit of sensationalism there I think Nicola.
Posted by: redp, Huntington on 5:14pm Fri 28 Mar 08
I am very pleased that Rev. Harris is making such good progress. I still find it shocking however that people have to suffer great pain caused by treatable conditions in one of the richest countries on earth. This is perhaps yet another example of the uneven distribution of wealth.
I am very pleased that Rev. Harris is making such good progress. I still find it shocking however that people have to suffer great pain caused by treatable conditions in one of the richest countries on earth. This is perhaps yet another example of the uneven distribution of wealth.
Posted by: Mike, London on 12:59pm Sat 29 Mar 08
Nicola as a trustee of the Charity OUCH UK. The Organisation for the Understanding of Cluster Headache and the first person in the UK to have the operation that Mr Harris received sadly I know 100's of Cluster headache sufferers. I would suggest virtually everyone of us have considered suicide at one time or another. I know of three successful attempts at suicide and quite a number of failures. Mike
Nicola as a trustee of the Charity OUCH UK. The Organisation for the Understanding of Cluster Headache and the first person in the UK to have the operation that Mr Harris received sadly I know 100's of Cluster headache sufferers. I would suggest virtually everyone of us have considered suicide at one time or another. I know of three successful attempts at suicide and quite a number of failures. Mike
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