Gary's Story

Posted 4hrs ago
by Peter Collins

Share

by Peter H Collins

At the end of the summer of 1990, my wife Jo, children Gary age 12 and Melissa age 8, were in Chelmsford buying furniture. Later in a restaurant, for no apparent reason, Gary stood up and started shouting. It was quite alarming and Jo and I didn't know what to do!

We eventually drove home and went directly to our surgery and saw our doctor, who gave Gary sedatives to calm him down. She said that if he was still like this tomorrow morning, we should phone her.

The following morning, Gary was getting dressed when he started shouting and jerking. We phoned the surgery and we were told to take him to Hospital , and that she would phone ahead to tell them to expect us. 

The doctor in the hospital thought that Gary had epilepsy and Gary was admitted where he stayed for one week, without any drugs, so that they could observe what he was like. At the end of the week, my wife and I were told it was just nerves, as he was starting a new school the next term. Jo and I took him home, but we weren't satisfied, and got a quick appointment to see a consultant at Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital.

Gary was diagnosed with Tourette's, a fairly unknown syndrome back in 1990.

The doctor put Gary on haloperidol. This made Gary so tired. He started his new school in September, but somehow managed to control his 'tics'. Obviously, the school were advised of Gary's behaviour. But when he arrived home, the jerking and shouting started and it was terrible for us!

When the Jewish New Year arrived, Jo's parents came to visit us, And I remember Gary having his 'tics' and my father-in-law, sitting on the stairs crying. We weren't satisfied with the consultant that we saw and then saw a doctor who had a calming effect on Gary, changed his pills to Sulpiride, which were much better.

Gary now also had OCD, and started to bang his head against his bedroom door. Also, when we were eating, if we breathed near his food, he refused to eat it!

We then arranged to take him to the Tourette's clinic in Queens Square, where he saw Dr Mary Robertson, and this became a regular concurrence. She was really nice to all of us.

Gary began to calm down, and Jo and I started to learn as much as we could about this little known condition. I remember once receiving a phone call from a lady who had a child who was barking at the end of a sentence and her GP didn't know what it was. I told her to contact the Tourette syndrome Association. After seven weeks suffering at this school, one morning Gary picked up his belongings and walked out. He never went back.

Through the help of the council, we got him into a different high school and the headteacher and other members of the staff took great care of him. 

In 1991, Gary was studying for his "bar mitzvah", which is when a Jewish boy is 13. In the synagogue he has to read out a portion of the Bible in Hebrew and usually, the next day there is a party to celebrate. My wife Jo, though, was under a cardiologist after a double bypass in 1985, and she became ill towards the end of the year. In September, the special day came. Dr Robertson had prescribed drugs to help Gary keep calm, but when the time came, he couldn't do it. Yet on the Monday night, at his party in front of 100 people, he stood up and made a speech and we all had a fantastic time!

Gary left school when he was 16 with a few GCSEs , And worked for British Home Stores. Unfortunately, and tragically, on January 11, 1992, Jo died while having an open heart surgery, aged 46, and I had to come home from the hospital and tell Gary his mummy had gone to heaven. Gary was very close to Jo, as was Melissa who was only nine. I had to take him to the Tourette's clinic along with Jo's father, and somehow, the condition waned. Gary took his pills religiously and there was a time when I remarried in 1997, and Gary moved into his own rented flat.

There was also a time when Gary lived with Jo's parents in London's East End, as it was near where Gary worked, as he was now working as a concierge for a block of flats. Gary then worked for a luxury block of flats in West London where he has been now for 17 years.He has a very responsible job looking after three blocks of flats and the residents love him. But he has been under terrible stress for years and wants to leave.

I was divorced in 2007, I retired in 2009 and live alone. Gary never married, and lives in a studio flat. He works four days on and then has four days off, and does 12 hour shifts from 6:30 am to 6:30 pm. This means he has to get up at 4:30 am.

He spends all his free time with me and his sister Melissa, her family of two daughters, and Teddy the dog whom he loves.

Gary's behaviour is erratic. He is a very affectionate young man and tells me he loves me, but when he is in a bad mood, the abuse starts, which is hard to deal with. He is very intelligent, caring, funny, and helps me with my book as much as he can. He will be 48 on September 18th. I am very lucky to have a son like him, and of course a daughter and two teenage granddaughters. We always talk about Jo and her photos are everywhere. 

The other week we saw the film "I Swear", which was fantastic, and with the actor who portrayed John Davidson winning an Oscar, the publicity has done Tourette's a world of good.

Gary is my project manager and helps me with this fantastic novel I have written. It's called "Forbidden Fruit" by Peter H. Collins, and is on Amazon, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. It has also gone global and a fantastic screenplay has now been produced, which eventually  we will send to the film companies in Los Angeles. It is not really a book for ladies only to read as it is narrated by a young man.

You can find out more about the book here.

Return to blog