I feel disgusted with my dealings with Jimmy Saville and feel I must explain. I did not like the person; I thought it was his personality I could not stand; perhaps subconsciously it was something more.
I was diagnosed in 1973 some 40 years ago by a Dr. Carol at the Guildford Royal Surrey Hospital.
In those days there were no different types of MS; you either had it or didn’t.
In 1978 I started using a wheelchair; which enable me to move about the different Terminals at Heathrow Airport where I was a baggage tracing agent for British Airways.
In 1979 I was contacted by a man called Ivor. He said he was one of Jimmy Savills’s helpers at Stoke Mandeville where they were trying to raise the money to build a new wing. The BA Staff in Glasgow had raised a large amount and BA had given him airline tickets to go and receive the cheque; would I go with him as I was BA and in a chair?
He was also a wheelchair user and accompanied him and his lovely wife Hilda. Afterwards they invited me to Stoke to see the hospital and their plans.
The hospital was more or less about 20 prefabricated huts left over since WW2 joined by covered corridors. The gardens all around these huts were immaculate; would put Wisley to shame.
Each hut had about 10 beds and every bed had a patient who one minute was a Footballer; Rugby Player; Swimmer; Athlete or just going about the normal things in life. The next minute their life had been turned on their head; bedridden and having to rely on others to help with bodily functions.
Sure I was a wheelchair user but what was happening to me was slower; at least I had time to adapt. Jimmy Saville was a peculiar person but he certainly had people in droves wanting to give him money while he sat on his golden throne smoking his Cuban cigar.
I was no exception; a new wing was urgently needed; I thought I must do something so wrote to Her Majesty who gave me permission to use The Mall outside Buckingham Palace for a sponsored wheelchair push. I managed 20 laps and raised about £1000.
Shows how small a world it is I was accompanied by ten girls from BA check in Terminal 2. One of the girls Debbie Harrison when I became a Trustee of the MS Society 20 years later was the North London MS Society Coordinator; sort of paid bouncer who makes all the play; solves any problems.
It went so well I thought I would do something a little further so decided on John O’Groats to Lands End by tricycle. So Pashley’s of Stratford of Avon loaned me a tricycle and Sir Colin Marshall; Chief Executive of BA, provided me with an estate Mondao and all the petrol driven by my best mate Gary Mills. I won’t bore you with the journey just say it was the greatest experience of my life; except one place; The Shap Fell; Cumbria.
Saville had done it many times and always went Lands End to John O’Groats; now I know why. If you travel north to south to get to the Shap Fell; which is a large hill rising about 1000 feet in about 2 miles; but comes down the 1000 feet very sharply with rocks one side and a sheer drop the other.
I can’t remember if there was any warning about the drop going up the hill but I never headed it; one minute struggling to peddle up to the top; the next hurtling down at about 60 mph and the breaks having no effect.
Being an atheist in the short time; about 4 minutes; it took to get to the bottom I remember praying to God; asking for his help. Believe it or not when I got to the bottom there was a gated field that the farmer had left open. It is not the Country Code to leave gates open so someone was looking after me. This let me steer in and slow down.
Collecting the money at the end was always the worst part. For this event I had sponsorship from Prince Charles and Lady Diane.
In 1986 I wanted to do something further for Stoke so talked with my mate Sir Colin Marshal who gave me airline tickets to circumnavigate the world twice continuously that took 5 days 13 hours; again this was sponsored.
Saville was a strange person; but at least Stoke Mandeville got the money.
George