A PARKINSON’S sufferer has told how a miracle operation has transformed his life – allowing him to ditch his wheelchair and become a healthy sportsman.
Grandfather Barry Salter, 61, was struck down with neurological disorder Parkinson’s at the age of 48 and could not wash, dress or feed himself.
Grandfather Barry Salter, 61, was struck down with neurological disorder Parkinson’s at the age of 48 and could not wash, dress or feed himself.
He was confined to a wheelchair and had to down a cocktail of 20 different pills a day to combat crippling aches and pains and symptoms including hallucinations and anxiety.
But thanks to a revolutionary “brain pacemaker” fitted by surgeons in an eight-hour operation, Barry’s life has been turned around.
He now goes to the gym twice a week, practises martial arts, swims and plays table tennis regularly.
Barry has even been able to make two trips across the globe to visit friends in Australia, whom he thought he would never see again.
Delighted Barry compared himself to Star Trek creatures “the Borg” and said the Deep Brain Stimulator operation could transform the lives of thousands of fellow sufferers in the UK.
The former health service manager from Newmarket said: “Parkinson’s is like an insidious disease, it creeps up on you and gets worse.
“My movement deteriorated, I wasn’t sleeping, I was anxious, suffering aches and pains and hallucinations and had to give up work.
“It had a devastating effect. It got so bad I had a wheelchair. I was only in my 50s.”
But neurologist Dr Graham Lennox, of Newmarket Hospital, provided a lifeline by recommending the Deep Brain Stimulator (DBS) operation.
During specialist surgery at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, four electrodes, in the form of 5in-long titanium rods, were placed inside his brain.
The brain pacemaker sends electrical impulses into the titanium electrodes and alleviates symptoms of Parkinson’s.
Now Barry carries a remote control to regulate how much voltage the pacemaker administers to his brain.
He said: “I feel like the Borg from Star Trek. Now I work out in the gym twice a week and do tai chi as well.”
The rods and wires mean Barry cannot walk through airport security scanners and was once quizzed by staff at Next, in Cambridge, after setting off the door alarms.
Barry said the operation in 2005 meant he could look forward to enjoying life again with his wife Sheila, 60.
Dr Keiran Breen, director of research and development at Parkinson’s UK, said the operation was clearly a success and should be made available to more sufferers.
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