A father with chronic pain surprised
staff and patients at Southport Hospital when he toured the wards with his
homemade, life sized Dr Who Dalek.
Kevin Howard has been using the pain service for 14 years since he woke up 1
morning with pain in his shoulder. The pain intensified and numerous tests and
investigations over 2 years failed to produce a diagnosis. Kevin was eventually
diagnosed with chronic pain, though after 2 years of suffering he was no longer
able to work as an electrical engineer and required regular pain medication.
It was a referral to Clinical Psychology at Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS
Trust that helped Kevin turn his life around. "The pain is still the same,
I just have a different mindset now..." said Kevin.
Because of his pain, Kevin was no longer able to play football with his son,
Stewart, they set about building a life size Dalek, so that they could do
something together. "We call the dalek Jeremy and he's 12 years old now.
We started building him when my son was 6 and it helped to teach him how to use
tools, it took us 3 months to build. We even used Jeremy as a Christmas Tree 1
year. My wife wasn't too happy!"
Stewart is now 18 and accompanied his Dad (and Jeremy the Dalek) around the
Hospital to boost the spirits of patients and staff.
Kevin is also a volunteer at the pain clinic, based at Ainsdale Centre for
Health and Well Being, every Friday and with the Living Well programme. For more
information on the pain clinic and Living Well, visit:-
SouthportAndOrmskirk.NHS.UK and click on the Clinical Psychology
section.
