Latest / The Folkestone & Hythe Sports Podcast / RECOVERING ALCOHOLIC PAUL COZENS AND HANNAH HARVEY TALK ABOUT WHY PAUL IS RUNNING A 32 MILE ULTRA MARATHON

Transcript

RECOVERING ALCOHOLIC PAUL COZENS AND HANNAH HARVEY TALK ABOUT WHY PAUL IS RUNNING A 32 MILE ULTRA MARATHON · The Folkestone & Hythe Sports Podcast

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  Speaker 1: This is Kevin Sports for it daily, bringing you the
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  Speaker 1: midweek sports show right here on 105.9 Radio Folkestone. Now,
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  Speaker 1: on today's show, if we get time and we've got
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  Speaker 1: a really busy show, I think I might have to
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  Speaker 1: put some of this off until Saturday. But if we
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  Speaker 1: get time, we're going to talk about some football, some hockey,
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  Speaker 1: some rugby, and there was a half marathon at the weekend.
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  Speaker 1: But we've got two special guests in the studio today.
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  Speaker 1: We're joined by Hannah Harvey, who is a fundraiser for
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  Speaker 1: the East Kent Hospitals Charity. And Paul Cousins, who's gone
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  Speaker 1: from being a hospital patient to a hospital porter. And
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  Speaker 1: Paul will be telling us about a running challenge he'll
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  Speaker 1: be undertaking next week. So let's get this show on
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  Speaker 1: the road with a track for a birthday boy. Brian
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  Speaker 1: Ferry was 81 years old a couple of days ago. Now,
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  Speaker 1: Brian Ferry recorded a few songs on his own, but
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  Speaker 1: he made his name back in the 70s with Roxy Music.
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  Speaker 1: And this was their first ever single release. It was
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  Speaker 1: a top ten hit. So sit back and enjoy. I
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  Speaker 1: love this track, Virginia Blaine.
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  Speaker 2: Make me a deal and make it straight Or sign
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  Speaker 2: and seal our ticket To rub it in the eye
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  Speaker 2: of truth.
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  Speaker 1: From 1972, Roxy Music. What's your name, Virginia Plain? It
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  Speaker 1: finished so suddenly, didn't it, that song? I think it
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  Speaker 1: caught a lot of people out back in the 70s,
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  Speaker 1: but what a great track. Okay, so I want to
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  Speaker 1: introduce you to our two guests. So I want to
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  Speaker 1: say good morning to you, Paul. Paul, how are you?
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  Speaker 2: I'm very well, thank you, Kev.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks for coming in today. Now, before we really get
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  Speaker 1: into the nitty-gritty of why you're here, you're doing an
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  Speaker 1: event next week, aren't you? A challenge. So just tell
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  Speaker 1: us briefly about your challenge.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, so next Friday I'm going to attempt to run
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  Speaker 2: a 32-mile ultramarathon, obviously working at the hospital. I'm giving
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  Speaker 2: back to the East Kent Hospitals charity. So I'm going
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  Speaker 2: to start at the William Harvey at about nine in
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  Speaker 2: the morning, run all the way through to Canterbury. As
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  Speaker 2: I do that bit, I'll be in patient pyjamas. When
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  Speaker 2: I get to Canterbury, I'll do a quick change. And
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  Speaker 2: from there, I'll run on to the QEQM in Margate.
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  Speaker 1: OK, so I mean, for the benefit of the listeners
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  Speaker 1: here today. So what you're saying is you're running from
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  Speaker 1: William Harvey Hospital to the Kent and Canterbury Hospital. And
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  Speaker 1: then to QEQM Hospital in Margate.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's it, yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, right. Well, we'll find out a bit more about
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  Speaker 1: that very shortly. But I want to come over to you,
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  Speaker 1: our second guest. So, good morning to you, Hannah. How
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  Speaker 1: are you?
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  Speaker 3: I'm good, thank you. How are you?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, fine, yeah. Thanks for coming in. Now, Hannah, you
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  Speaker 1: are part of the East Kent... Let's get this right.
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  Speaker 1: East Kent Hospital's charity, is that right?
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  Speaker 3: Yes, that's right, yeah.
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  Speaker 1: So, what's your role there?
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  Speaker 3: So, I'm the fundraising officer for the charity.
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  Speaker 1: Okay.
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  Speaker 4: And, I mean.
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  Speaker 1: It must be a very rewarding job when when sort
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  Speaker 1: of the funds come rolling in. But at times I
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  Speaker 1: expect it can be a bit tough as well.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it can.
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  Speaker 3: Every day is different. You don't know what's going to
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  Speaker 3: get thrown up. And obviously, like every charity, you know,
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  Speaker 3: they struggle. So we just have to make the best
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  Speaker 3: of what we've got, really.
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  Speaker 4: OK.
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  Speaker 1: And so East Kent Hospital's charity. I mean, what does
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  Speaker 1: that include? Is it hospitals in this area?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, so we look after five hospitals in this area.
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  Speaker 3: So we look after the QEQM in Margate, William Harvey
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  Speaker 3: in Ashford, Kent and Canterbury, Royal Victoria in Folkestone and
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  Speaker 3: Buckland in Dover.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, right. So that's good, yeah. And do you know what?
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  Speaker 1: I think this is a charity that's gone a little
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  Speaker 1: bit under the radar. Everyone thinks about, you know, hours
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  Speaker 1: and hours in casualty and A & E and, you know,
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  Speaker 1: queuing up. But there's an underlying... Feel good factor, really,
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  Speaker 1: about your charity, isn't it? Tell us one or two
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  Speaker 1: of the things that it does.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, so we are a very small charity. We're only
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  Speaker 3: a team of six people and we cover all those
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  Speaker 3: five hospitals and the local community. But we basically do
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  Speaker 3: anything that goes above and beyond what the NHS should
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  Speaker 3: be funding. So last year alone, we put over £ 800, 000
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  Speaker 3: back into the hospital community. And that's from anything from
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  Speaker 3: making the children's wards more sort of happy for the
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  Speaker 3: children because nobody wants to be stuck in hospital. We
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  Speaker 3: work with the dementia teams very closely, making sure they've
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  Speaker 3: got distraction items all the way through to our cancer services.
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  Speaker 3: So pretty much every day we cover every health complication
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  Speaker 3: there is.
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  Speaker 1: Okay. So, Paul, let's come back to you. Now, Paul,
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  Speaker 1: you're doing this run, okay, which is raising money for
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  Speaker 1: the charity for which Hannah is the fundraiser. But We
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  Speaker 1: know that there's more to it, this run, than there's
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  Speaker 1: something deep and dark in the background that I think
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  Speaker 1: we want to share this morning. We've spoken about it
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  Speaker 1: off-air just a little bit. So tell me, I mean,
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  Speaker 1: why are you running this? Tell us a little bit
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  Speaker 1: about yourself, how it all started, a little bit about
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  Speaker 1: your background.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, so I am a recovering alcoholic. I've been three
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  Speaker 2: and a half years sober. That was only made possible
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  Speaker 2: by the fact that I was taken by ambulance to
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  Speaker 2: the QEQM hospital at my lowest stage. I'd been drinking
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  Speaker 2: heavily for about 10 years. Started, my dad was diagnosed
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  Speaker 2: with terminal cancer and he passed away. And for some reason,
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  Speaker 2: I couldn't cope with it. I know that now, having
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  Speaker 2: been through all the counselling and everything. I was taken in.
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  Speaker 2: I was very lucky. to have been met by great
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  Speaker 2: people great team and basically it changed and saved my
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  Speaker 2: life so so uh and then incredibly it went on
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  Speaker 2: i was inspired when i was there i saw the
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  Speaker 2: people working and the the small things that people do
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  Speaker 2: that actually are really important and mean so much you
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  Speaker 2: know a little hello how are you as you're passing
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  Speaker 2: because everyone's busy but it really makes a difference so
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  Speaker 2: I was sober for about three months. I was lucky
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  Speaker 2: enough to get on to a course with the Forward Trust,
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  Speaker 2: the charity foundation that help people with drug addiction and alcoholism.
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  Speaker 2: So I did a 12 week course with them. And
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  Speaker 2: as that was coming to the end, I saw an
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  Speaker 2: advert for a porter's job at the hospital. I applied
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  Speaker 2: and how lucky am I to actually work at the
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  Speaker 2: hospital that saved my life.
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  Speaker 1: Right.
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  Speaker 5: Brilliant.
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  Speaker 1: Let's go back 10 years or more. And what started
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  Speaker 1: on you on this rocky road? Uh, was it, you know,
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  Speaker 1: the passing of your dad or was there a thing,
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  Speaker 1: other things in your life?
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  Speaker 2: Um, I, I think it was, it was basically, I
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  Speaker 2: say basically like it's easy, but, um, it was, that
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  Speaker 2: was the, was the trigger.
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  Speaker 1: Um, and did you, did you have any support? I mean,
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  Speaker 1: there's groups around now. And as you say, you're brave
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  Speaker 1: enough to come on the show and tell everyone you're
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  Speaker 1: a recovering alcoholic. Uh, but, but in those days, um,
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  Speaker 1: Was there groups out there or did you just bury
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  Speaker 1: your head in the sand?
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  Speaker 2: I buried my head in the sand. Yeah. And that
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  Speaker 2: is the issue. I think because you know that everyone
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  Speaker 2: else has gone through losing a parent or losing someone.
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  Speaker 2: So why can't I deal with it? So there starts
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  Speaker 2: the little twist and the little turn of the, oh,
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  Speaker 2: it must be me. And that's the cycle that continues.
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  Speaker 2: So it starts off having one, two million on a
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  Speaker 2: Friday and Saturday night to clear it up. And then
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  Speaker 2: it becomes Thursday night. And then it becomes every night.
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  Speaker 2: And then every morning.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: And then the worse it gets, the more the spiral escalates.
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  Speaker 2: And you just get trapped in a whirlwind of round
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  Speaker 2: and round. So you become more guilty because you're drinking.
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  Speaker 2: So how do you stop feeling guilty? You drink more
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  Speaker 2: because it numbs the pain. And then before you know it,
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  Speaker 2: you're trapped.
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  Speaker 6: And.
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  Speaker 2: The thing is with it, and this is why I'm
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  Speaker 2: open and I'm doing this, as much as I want
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  Speaker 2: to raise money for the charity, it's amazing. I want
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  Speaker 2: to break the stigma because I think shame plays a
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  Speaker 2: big part in it. I was ashamed that I couldn't
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  Speaker 2: simply say no to putting another drink to my lips
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  Speaker 2: because to the average person, it sounds so easy. Well,
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  Speaker 2: you're drinking too much. Well, stop drinking. But you can't.
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  Speaker 2: So it's the shame, the guilt, and it is nothing
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  Speaker 2: to be shamed of. We all struggle for whatever reason
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  Speaker 2: with all different things. But especially, I think, with the
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  Speaker 2: drinking side of it, because it's so readily available and
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  Speaker 2: everything like that, we feel ashamed that we can't say no.
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  Speaker 2: And that shame sometimes spirals us to a place where
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  Speaker 2: we don't ask for help.
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  Speaker 1: So when you finally were taken into QEQM, I mean,
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  Speaker 1: what happened that day? You probably can't remember anyway. But,
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  Speaker 1: I mean, were you, like, found in a gutter and people, or,
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  Speaker 1: you know, good, getting.
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  Speaker 2: No, so I'll be totally honest, as I always am.
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  Speaker 2: For about the last six to eight months of my drinking,
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  Speaker 2: I was suffering from what they would now call suicidal ideology.
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  Speaker 2: I'd given up. I didn't want to be here anymore.
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  Speaker 2: I could see no way out.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: So I wanted to end it. And just, I still
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  Speaker 2: to this day don't know why. I was sitting at
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  Speaker 2: home in my bedroom. I live with my mother.
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  Speaker 5: And.
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  Speaker 2: For some reason, I went in, I broke down and
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  Speaker 2: just said it to her. I said, if I don't
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  Speaker 2: get help today, I may not be here tomorrow.
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  Speaker 5: Ah, right.
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  Speaker 2: And then my sister-in-law, my mum phoned my sister-in-law, because
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  Speaker 2: obviously that's a big deal for your mum once I
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  Speaker 2: go through. She came down, we spoke, and then the
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  Speaker 2: calls began and she dialled 999. Right, right.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, Paul, so we're going to stop you there. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: we've still got plenty to talk about, but we're going
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  Speaker 1: to play this song that means a lot to you.
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  Speaker 1: And it's one you've asked for. So is there any
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  Speaker 1: particular reason why you want this song played?
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  Speaker 2: Because the words start with the man in the mirror
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  Speaker 2: mean so much to me. So every day I take
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  Speaker 2: a look at myself and I go, I will stay
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  Speaker 2: sober today and I will try to be a better
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  Speaker 2: person than I was yesterday.
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  Speaker 1: Well, there you are, everybody. Let's learn by today and
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  Speaker 1: take a leaf out of Paul's book and have a
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: look in the mirror first thing in the morning. So
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  Speaker 1: let's sit back and listen to Michael Jackson.
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  Speaker 2: I'm gonna make a change for once.
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  Speaker 6: In my life.
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  Speaker 1: It's gonna feel real good.
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  Speaker 2: Gonna make a difference.
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  Speaker 1: Gonna make it right.
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  Speaker 4: As I turn up the collarboard, my favorite winter coat, this.
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  Speaker 1: Wind is blowing my mind. I see little.
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  Speaker 6: Kids in the street, but not enough to enjoy.
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  Speaker 5: Come on, make me the girl you love, you love it,
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  Speaker 5: you love it, you love it.
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  Speaker 1: Five minutes of Michael Jackson, the man in the mirror.
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  Speaker 1: Do you know what? I've known that for ages. So
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  Speaker 1: it's a good choice, Paul. Well, thank you. Yeah, I'm
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  Speaker 1: glad that kind of, you know, inspires you to to
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  Speaker 1: move on. OK, so we're going to go back to
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  Speaker 1: Hannah now. Now, Hannah, let's tell us a little bit
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  Speaker 1: more about the charity. You've got these five hospitals, but
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  Speaker 1: the Royal Victoria Hospital years ago, it used to be
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: a hospital where patients would stay overnight. And, you know,
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: it was just like a general hospital. But now it's
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: just A & E, really, and clinics. So, I mean,
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  Speaker 1: how can you help a hospital like that?
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  Speaker 3: So we try and help them as much as possible.
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  Speaker 3: So we funded some items for sort of team wellbeing items.
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  Speaker 3: So when they have team get togethers, we provide activities
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  Speaker 3: for them. And more recently, we've started working with the
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: haematology department. Nobody likes going and having a blood test.
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  Speaker 3: So we provide sort of distraction items for people to
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  Speaker 3: hold on to, cuddly toys, anything that's just going to
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  Speaker 3: help make that experience a bit better. Christmas time, we're
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  Speaker 3: in there dropping off toys and things for the children's areas, chocolates,
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  Speaker 3: whatever we can do to help them. That's what we're
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  Speaker 3: here for.
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  Speaker 1: Did the hospital come to you and say, you know,
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  Speaker 1: we've really shorted something in a certain department or do
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  Speaker 1: you put suggestions to them?
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  Speaker 3: No, so we are led purely by our teams in
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  Speaker 3: the hospital. So they come to us and let us
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: know what they need. And we'll either... get them to
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  Speaker 3: make an application for funding for us to us or
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  Speaker 3: we work with local community groups and also local community
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  Speaker 3: groups go well actually we've got these items we'd like
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  Speaker 3: to go to the hospital and we arrange for them
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  Speaker 3: to be delivered and distributed around all.
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  Speaker 1: Right i mean christmas time is well especially for children
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  Speaker 1: if you're in hospital over christmas um so uh you
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  Speaker 1: must be kind of busy at that time of year.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean, as soon as Christmas finishes, we're onto
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  Speaker 3: the next Christmas season. And I mean, um, at our
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  Speaker 3: sort of, uh, QEQM hospital and, um, William Harvey hospital,
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  Speaker 3: a couple of years ago, we installed fireplaces into the
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  Speaker 3: children's playrooms because they were very, very panicked that Santa
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  Speaker 3: would not be able to visit them. Um, and how
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  Speaker 3: could Santa get into a hospital? So we, uh, We
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: spoke to our lovely colleagues at B & Q and
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: they arranged for some fireplace surrounds to be delivered. And
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  Speaker 3: we got those installed so the children on Christmas Eve
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  Speaker 3: can go and hang their stockings and things like that.
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: And we make sure Santa is able to visit every
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: child in hospital.
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  Speaker 1: That's a great idea. I mean, who would have thought
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  Speaker 1: of that? Only a child's mentality would be sitting there.
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: Oh, really?
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: It's something so simple, isn't it?
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. And B & Q were good.
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  Speaker 3: They did. They supported us and gave us the surround
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  Speaker 3: so we were able to get them installed. And do
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  Speaker 3: you know what? It makes such a difference. And you
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  Speaker 3: speak to children who have been in there and, you know,
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  Speaker 3: nobody wants to be in hospital over Christmas. And it
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: just makes all the difference knowing that Santa is actually
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: going to get down the chimney in the hospital.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, great. OK, Paul, let's come back to you now.
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  Speaker 3: So, Paul.
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: You've kind of, for one split moment in your life,
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: you've admitted that you've got a problem. And so take
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: us through the next chapter.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, so I get taken to the QEQM hospital. I
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: arrive and I always say, I arrived with a terrible
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: feeling of, I'm wasting people's time. Because you sit there
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: and you, I'm doing this to myself. There's no other excuse.
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: That's how you feel. You go past people, obviously, as
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: you're taken in, who are on trolleys, suffering, whatever it
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: is they're going through, in pain, groaning, and you're taken
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: into a separate area, feeling a bit of a fraud.
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: So I was taken in. Everyone was really lovely. And
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: then a few hours later, I was met by a
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: lady who will get embarrassed when I say it, but
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: I still say it. I say she saved my life.
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: Her name is Julie Blake. And she works as part
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: of what they call the alcohol substance and misuse team.
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  Speaker 2: So we had a very long chat about what was
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: going through, what was happening. And for the first time,
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: she spoke to me as what I was. And I
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: had to face up to it. I was a drunk
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: and an alcoholic.
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  Speaker 1: But you also said you were taking drugs?
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  Speaker 2: Yes, unfortunately, that was where it spoiled out of control.
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  Speaker 2: For the last, I would say, 18 months, to try
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  Speaker 2: and combat, because I was now consuming about 20, 24
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: cans of lager a day, I started to use cocaine.
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: And unfortunately, the cocaine escalated so quickly that it was getting...
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: I was literally very rarely eating. I was... Sorry to
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: your listeners, I was vomiting, being sick every day. And
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: it got to the point where I wasn't sleeping because
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: you're doing the cocaine, unfortunately. We know what cocaine does.
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: So I added a bottle of rum on the night
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: just to basically pass out so I could turn my
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: brain off.
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  Speaker 1: Right. So you got into the clinic and this lady, Julie,
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: did you say her name was?
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: Julie Blake, yeah.
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  Speaker 6: So.
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  Speaker 1: Was that the first time you listened to anybody? Because
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: for all that period of 10 years, people must have
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: been saying, you know, don't have a drink. But was
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: this the first person you listened to?
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  Speaker 3: Yes.
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  Speaker 2: And the only way I can describe it is it
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: was an epiphany. I sat there. We had a chat
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  Speaker 2: to start with. And then I loved Julie because she
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: made it quite black and white. So we had a chat.
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: She said, do you want to stop? I said, yes.
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: She said, OK. I will come back and speak to
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: you in the morning because at the moment you're drunk,
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: which is actually true. So she couldn't give me any meds. Obviously,
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: I was, odds were all done and fluids were done,
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: but the medication can't start until you're pretty starting to
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: come into withdrawal. So she came back the next morning. I,
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: and this isn't me being flippant about it. I looked
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: a bit like a nodding dog on a car. She
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: came in, we spoke and she said, you're clearly going through,
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: So we began the five day detox and then she
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: came back and we spoke about the forward trust, which
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: gives a 12 week course. But like all things, it's
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: very limited. They don't have enough spaces for everyone. But
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: she saw something in me and believed in me. So
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: she put me forward and I was accepted. So I
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: spent five days in the hospital doing the detox and
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: then left armed with my knowledge that I'd be going
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: to a 12 week course. for abstinence.
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: Right. And how tough was that? I mean, did you,
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: you know, your mind must be going, I want a drink,
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: I want a drink. But, you know, the other half
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: of you were saying, don't pick one up.
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: The hardest thing to come is that, obviously, once you
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: come out of it, you realise the term self-medicating. You know,
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: I was getting rid of feelings and emotions and things
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: I didn't want to deal with by numbing myself with alcohol.
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: So the biggest part for me wasn't the wanting a
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: drink wasn't the hardest part to start with. was the
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: wave of everything suddenly becoming into reality and there's nowhere
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: to shelter from it anymore. And that's a good thing
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: because then you start the process of dealing with it.
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: And that's what the 12 week course was brilliant at.
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: You meet people going through the same things. We're all different.
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: We all did it for different reasons. And there's no like, Oh,
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: I drank this much. You did that. It, we're all
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: having a problem and we cannot stop drinking and you
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: meet people. And yes, we do laugh about it. Um,
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: And it helps you. And you learn techniques and the tools.
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: My brain is wired a bit differently. I have to
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: accept that. It's never going to change. But now I
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: know that I'm wired differently. And I have the techniques
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: to cope with when those feelings kick in.
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: So during that course, you got to the end of
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: that 12 weeks. I mean, you're sitting here now, and
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: next week you're going to run 32 miles. I mean,
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: I bet that was the last thing in your head
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: when you come out of that 12-week course, wasn't it?
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: It wasn't the first thing on my mind, no. I'll
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: be openly admit about that, yeah. No, but I came,
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: so I started, like I say, working as a porter.
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: Can I just sort of interrupt there? So you'd been
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: in hospital, and everybody knew your condition, but, I mean,
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: was there.
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: When you went for the job, people knew your background.
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: Well, not so much the people from the company, the
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: porter inside that I work for. But when I did start,
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: you got the sight, not in a bad way, but
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: you got the looks. But obviously working with people's medical conditions,
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: you can't discuss them.
• 21:16
  Speaker 3: No.
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: So people gave me an acknowledging look like they might
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: have known. But because of the way we work, we
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: can't discuss it. Later on, when I felt more comfortable
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: about it, I was like, you recognise me, don't you?
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: And then it starts.
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: Well, they're going to recognise you even more next week
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: because you'll be running around somewhere in your pyjamas. We
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: were just saying off air, we hope we don't get
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: knocked off by a car. But we're going to come
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: to the actual running in a minute. So I think
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: we'll have a little music break. And this is a
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: lively old song. Now, I picked up that yesterday in
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: the year 1978, which was 48 years ago. John Travolta
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: and Olivia Newton-John had a number one sequel from the
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: film Grease. And it's still a wedding reception floor filler.
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: That's the only time you ever hear it being played,
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: I think, these days. So before our summer days finally disappear,
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: let's enjoy a little bit of Summer Nights.
• 22:09
  Speaker 5: Summer Lovin' had me a blast Summer.
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: Lovin' had me a blast.
• 22:25
  Speaker 4: I met a girl crazy for.
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: Me Come on then, you're at the wedding. You've had
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: a few drinks. You're waiting for that last little bit.
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: Here we go.
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: Come on, in the office, all together.
• 22:55
  Speaker 6: Oh, all right, turn it down a bit.
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: That is the ultimate floor filler at a wedding. Honestly,
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: I love that song. OK, so let's go back to...
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: We're going to turn our attentions back to Hannah now. Now, so, Hannah...
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: Soapbox Time, anything you want to tell us about the
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: charity and what's going on?
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: So, yeah, we pretty much do everything and anything within
• 23:30
  Speaker 3: the hospital. So recently, as I mentioned earlier, we worked
• 23:33
  Speaker 3: with our dementia team. They just put on a fabulous
• 23:37
  Speaker 3: basketball match, which was the first of its kind to happen.
• 23:41
  Speaker 3: We had staff playing against the Bay Point Blazers over
• 23:47
  Speaker 3: at Sandwich, which was a fantastic evening. And all the
• 23:51
  Speaker 3: money raised from that would go towards our dementia services,
• 23:54
  Speaker 3: which is a great team. They do fantastic things.
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: Do you put events on out in the community as well?
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: Or is it you just rely on people and companies
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: sending you money?
• 24:03
  Speaker 3: So we generally rely on people doing events themselves and stuff.
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: As I said, we're a very small team of only
• 24:09
  Speaker 3: six people. So sort of the resourcing of things. We
• 24:13
  Speaker 3: have done a few events. We actually, with the Kent
• 24:16
  Speaker 3: Drag Queens, we did a drag bingo night. Absolutely fantastic.
• 24:20
  Speaker 3: It was at Leicester's pub in Margate and it was
• 24:22
  Speaker 3: a fantastic evening. And my colleagues yesterday were actually just
• 24:26
  Speaker 3: at the East Kent ploughing match in Moncton.
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: Oh, I saw that. I saw a big sign for that.
• 24:31
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so they had a fantastic day. It was, the
• 24:34
  Speaker 3: weather was a bit grisly, but I met lots of
• 24:36
  Speaker 3: people and everything. So, Yeah, we pretty much get around everywhere. Obviously,
• 24:41
  Speaker 3: within hospitals, there are sort of areas that get a
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: lot more support than others, like mainly the children's areas
• 24:46
  Speaker 3: and sort of cancer services. But yeah, we cover pretty
• 24:51
  Speaker 3: much every area.
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: OK, well, I think I want to know the rest
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: of the names of your team, because I'm sure that
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: at some point they're going to be listening to this.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: So tell us, run us through the team.
• 25:00
  Speaker 3: So we have Dee, who is our head of charity.
• 25:03
  Speaker 3: She's a fantastic lady. She is always out there hustling.
• 25:07
  Speaker 3: We've got Sam, who is our admin officer. Then we
• 25:09
  Speaker 3: have two lovely ladies called Maddy and Lizzie, who are
• 25:12
  Speaker 3: our marketing managers, and Jenny, who is our accountant.
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: Well done. So well done, the team there. Keep up
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: the good work. And you're doing a great job, which is,
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: I'm hoping, actually, that this interview today will make people
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: aware of just what this charity does. and how it
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: helps things, if you like, above and beyond the call
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: of the NHS who might not have the funding, that
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: you can add that little sort of extra touch to it,
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: which is great. Okay, Paul, so coming back to you
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: on the next leg of the journey. So you are, well,
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: I don't suppose you're ever recovered, are you, from being
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: an alcoholic?
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: No, so I'll always be classed as a recovering alcoholic.
• 25:50
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: Okay, so you got this job. And which obviously was
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: a step forward in your life. Did it make you
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: feel that you was on the road to recovery?
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: I use the word loosely because we said, because you basically,
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: as you just admitted, you're never recovered as an alcoholic,
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: but for want of a better term, you was on
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: the road to recovery. Yeah.
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, it, it, it supports my sobriety every
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: day because you see everything in the hospital. I mean,
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: there's the great joys, there's the smiles, but, It is
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: a hospital, so you see the lows as well. So
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: it's a brilliant grounding to remind me that, you know,
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: I might be worrying about a little thing, but it
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: is only a little thing. So I find it really supports.
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: And also I say the word pride because for 10
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: years when I was drinking, I wasn't proud of myself
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: and I didn't really do anything to make anyone else proud.
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: So you... Let's talk about the run, actually, which is
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: what we came in here in the first place to
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: talk about. But it's been so interesting, Paul, hearing this
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: story because it's opened up a lot of people's eyes.
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: So how did you start running as a means of
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: sort of letting off a bit of steam? And how
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: did your running start?
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: So when I got sober, I wanted to do something,
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: a challenge, try and, you know, challenge myself, I suppose.
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: So I applied for the London Marathon Ballot. didn't get
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: in a couple of years on the trot. And then
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: one morning I got an email saying that they were
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: opening up the last 500 places for the Brighton Marathon
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: last year. So I thought, oh, well, I'll give it
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: a go, but I'm not going to be one of
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: the lucky ones. And about 30 seconds later, I got
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: the blip blip and I was in. Oh, yeah.
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: Bit of a shock there.
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah. So I was like, oh, OK, I probably should
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: start running then, I suppose.
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: So at that point, had you done any running?
• 27:48
  Speaker 6: No.
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: Oh, right, right. So tell us about your... I mean,
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: we've had people in here that have not done running before,
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: and that first, if you like, 5K or the first
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: park run is the actual hardest. Once you've conquered that
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: and you can run six miles without, you know, losing
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: your breath or anything, then you start enjoying it. So
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: tell us about your... I don't know, your journey or
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: your running journey.
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so I followed the advice on the thing, downloaded
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: the six-month thing up, and then obviously because I hadn't
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: done any running, I went out and bought everything like
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: you do. And my first run, I was the epitome
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: of all the gear, no idea. I love that, yeah.
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: Where I live in Whitstable, I planned a little route,
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: but I only had to do about 500 yards on
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: the main road. I came out with all my shiny
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: gear on like, yep, take it slow. I turned the
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: corner and my ego kicked in because there was people.
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: I ran flat out for about 500 yards and then
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: I had to walk. So I learned very quickly that
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: you have to take it slowly and steady. But yeah,
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: like you say, once you get going and you see
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: the improvements and then like you say, once you can
• 28:58
  Speaker 2: get up to a three mile run and come back
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: and you know you've done it but your breathing's working.
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: And I find it, It is therapy for me now.
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: It's very therapeutic. Yes, yeah.
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: Running is therapeutic, especially if you've had it. I mean,
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: without any alcohol and drug addiction problems, if you've had
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: a bad day at the office, you know, you want
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: to get home, get your trainers on, go out for
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: a run, and then you can kind of face what's
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: coming to you.
• 29:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly.
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: So, I mean, when you were training for Brighton, obviously
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: your training got better and better. And I take it
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: you turned up and you completed it. You haven't told
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: us that.
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, I did. I did finish it. Yeah, I
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: did it in five hours, 10 minutes.
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: That's OK, though, first marathon.
• 29:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, pretty good for a 53-year-old. Yeah, great.
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: Oh, good. So you did the marathon. I'll never forget
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: what I felt like when I did my first marathon.
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: I felt like I could run through brick walls. I
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: really did. But for you, with all the lows that
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: you've had, you must have felt awesome, mustn't you?
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: I felt very emotional. I was crying a lot in
• 30:00
  Speaker 2: the second half. Not through fatigue and pain, but it
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: was the most life-affirming thing I've ever done. Going through Brighton,
• 30:08
  Speaker 2: seeing these strangers screaming your name, kids wanting a little
• 30:13
  Speaker 2: high-five and everything. And I have to admit, it did
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: what it did to me because suddenly I realised I'm
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: getting there. It's worth putting the effort into yourself. Pays off.
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: What a great feeling. And when was it? Was it
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: last year?
• 30:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah, last April.
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: So after that, you kept your running going?
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I kept it ticking over. And then that's when
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: I came up with I wanted to do something for
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: the East Kent Hospitals charity, obviously linking with.
• 30:39
  Speaker 5: Where I work.
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: So I thought, well, how far is it to run
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: between the three hospitals? It comes out about 32 miles.
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: So I put it forward to my bosses.
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: So you approached Hannah and the team and you obviously
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: jumped on it.
• 30:54
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we sat down one morning in the canteen and
• 30:59
  Speaker 3: had a conversation, didn't we?
• 31:02
  Speaker 6: Yes.
• 31:02
  Speaker 2: You gave me a funny look.
• 31:03
  Speaker 3: I sort of was like, Are you sure about this?
• 31:06
  Speaker 3: Because that's that's quite a distance. But, yeah, Paul kind
• 31:09
  Speaker 3: of laid it out and said, this is what I
• 31:11
  Speaker 3: want to do. And we was like, hey, we've we've
• 31:14
  Speaker 3: never had anyone run an ultramarathon, but we are behind you.
• 31:17
  Speaker 3: So we we started the planning. Right.
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: So the planning. So, Paul, did you have any input
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: into the planning, like a route or anything? Because, you know, roads,
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: main roads, back roads.
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so I picked the route myself. So I went out,
• 31:35
  Speaker 2: I drove along. I'm not from around here originally, so
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: I spent time writing all the road names out and
• 31:42
  Speaker 2: everything like that, and then basically worked out I just
• 31:44
  Speaker 2: needed to put A28.
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah, oh, okay, so it was all on the A28.
• 31:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so that's going to be the route, yeah.
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: Okay, so you start off at Ashford, right? And then
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: your next stop is Canterbury.
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: Canterbury.
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: I mean, I've probably driven between Ashford and Canterbury like
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: a million times, but never thought about what it would
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: be like to run it. So what is the pavements?
• 32:05
  Speaker 2: There's pavements along the route pretty much the majority of
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: the way. I think between, I think it works out similar.
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: I think there's about three miles without pavements on each
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: of the two legs. Okay. So we've got that covered.
• 32:19
  Speaker 2: I've got a high vis vest to put on.
• 32:21
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: You know, health and safety hospital. Oh, yeah. So that
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: will be fine. I'm starting at nine in the morning
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: because I thought the rush hour will be calmed a
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: little bit then. It will be light. Hopefully it's still
• 32:32
  Speaker 2: light when I finish, but we won't go there until
• 32:35
  Speaker 2: next Friday.
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. But you're also running in something else, aren't you?
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so the first half, so I came up with
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: the idea to call it Patient to Porter because that's
• 32:46
  Speaker 2: pretty much what I am. So to combine the two,
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: I'm going to wear... patient pyjamas on the first leg.
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: Adidas pyjamas.
• 32:55
  Speaker 2: Oh, that's it.
• 32:55
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: Fully, fully sponsored by your high street sporting brand.
• 32:59
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 33:00
  Speaker 2: Um, so I'm going to wear the pyjamas as I
• 33:02
  Speaker 2: run from the William Harvey to Canterbury and then I'll
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: take those off and then I'm going to run. I've
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: got black shorts and a green top because we wear
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: the green tops and black of the porters.
• 33:12
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: And then that's the port.
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: You're not pushing a trolley for the second.
• 33:15
  Speaker 2: No, no, no, no, no. A couple of people have
• 33:18
  Speaker 2: said that. Maybe I can do that next year, but
• 33:20
  Speaker 2: let's see how this one goes.
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: Oh, that is amazing.
• 33:24
  Speaker 5: Brilliant.
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: Andy, you know, I mean, part of this is, we
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: were talking off air, it's your first radio appearance, but
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: I must hold my hand up and say I missed it,
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: but you was on the telly as well, wasn't you?
• 33:35
  Speaker 2: Yes, I was very fortunate that when the hospital charity
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: put the reference out about what I was doing, that
• 33:43
  Speaker 2: the local BBC News and local Mooridian ITV picked it up. So, yes,
• 33:47
  Speaker 2: I got my, what is it, 15 seconds of fame
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: on the telly.
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: There's no backing out now, then, Paul.
• 33:53
  Speaker 5: No, not really.
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: And, Hannah, from the charity point of view... So Paul
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: got in touch. He thought, is this man bookers or what?
• 34:02
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it was the first thought that sort of went
• 34:04
  Speaker 3: through my head. And then Paul sort of sat down
• 34:07
  Speaker 3: and explained his story. And I was just absolutely gobsmacked,
• 34:11
  Speaker 3: you know, at how open and honest he was about
• 34:15
  Speaker 3: his whole story. And I just looked at him and
• 34:17
  Speaker 3: I thought, do you know what? We've got to make
• 34:20
  Speaker 3: this happen.
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, make it work.
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: Actually, Paul, on a running point of view, what's the
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: distance between Ashford... And Canterbury, is it two 16s or
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: is it?
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: Nearly. It's about 15 miles from Ashford to Canterbury and
• 34:34
  Speaker 2: then about 17 on the second leg to the QEQM.
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: And when you get to Canterbury, I mean, you've got
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: to see how you feel, but is there a break
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: in order or did you want to get cracking again?
• 34:43
  Speaker 2: I'm going to change, obviously, to do the thing, but
• 34:46
  Speaker 2: I don't really want to spend too.
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: Long because, as you know, if you stop.
• 34:51
  Speaker 2: For too long, I'll be running like the Tin Man
• 34:54
  Speaker 2: for the second half.
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: OK, so we are... Oh, my word, look at the time.
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: It's just gone away with us this morning, but I
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: do want to get another song in, at least. This
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: is kind of... The title was absolutely appropriate to your life, Paul,
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: I think, in the last ten years. This is Don't
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: Look Back in Anger by Oasis. OK, so we're going
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: to just fade Oasis out there, but I think it's
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: a great title for what we're talking about, especially Paul
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: openly admits he's a recovering alcoholic and drug abuser, but
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: he's turned his life around and he's doing something really,
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: really positive. next week so we've got our last little
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: link Hannah let's let's start with you is there anything
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: you want to say anything you want to add um
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: anything that you're going to do especially on the day
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: are you going to be running behind porches to make
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: sure it's all.
• 36:12
  Speaker 3: Right I will be the first to admit that I
• 36:15
  Speaker 3: am not a runner, but I will be there supporting Paul.
• 36:17
  Speaker 3: So we will see him off at William Harvey and
• 36:19
  Speaker 3: then I will whiz over to Canterbury and then follow
• 36:23
  Speaker 3: him all the way to Margate. So just a massive
• 36:25
  Speaker 3: thank you from the charity to Paul because, you know,
• 36:28
  Speaker 3: we are so proud of what he is doing and
• 36:33
  Speaker 3: the funds that will come back into the charity is
• 36:36
  Speaker 3: just going to make such a difference to be able
• 36:38
  Speaker 3: to put that back into the hospital. And make a
• 36:40
  Speaker 3: difference to the lives of the local community. So, yeah,
• 36:44
  Speaker 3: thank you so.
• 36:44
  Speaker 5: Much, Paul.
• 36:45
  Speaker 2: No, thank you.
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: And Hannah, how can people find out a bit more
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: about the charity?
• 36:50
  Speaker 3: So they can go online to our website, which is
• 36:54
  Speaker 3: East Kent Hospitals Charity. If you pop that into Google,
• 36:56
  Speaker 3: we come up. Uh, we're on social media, on Facebook
• 36:59
  Speaker 3: and Instagram, and you can kind of follow along and
• 37:02
  Speaker 3: see what we're, what we get up to basically. And
• 37:05
  Speaker 3: it would be great for people just to interact with us.
• 37:07
  Speaker 3: Cause as we say, we are a very small charity,
• 37:09
  Speaker 3: but we, we do big things within the local hospitals.
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: Okay. And we will, um, will you be doing any
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: sort of, uh, FaceTime live or anything sort of up
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: to date on Paul's run.
• 37:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 37:20
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 37:21
  Speaker 3: We're going to try and sort of, uh, do some
• 37:22
  Speaker 3: updates as we go along. So we'll, uh, take some
• 37:25
  Speaker 3: pictures and videos of, uh, Paul setting off and try
• 37:28
  Speaker 3: and capture some bits along the day and just to
• 37:30
  Speaker 3: just celebrate the, the amazing occasion that it's going to be.
• 37:33
  Speaker 6: Right.
• 37:34
  Speaker 4: Brilliant.
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: Okay, Paul. So, um, it's down to you now. So, uh,
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: I do believe you've got a Just Giving page, and
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: how's that been going, first of all?
• 37:45
  Speaker 2: Oh, it's been unbelievable. I mean, when the charity asked
• 37:48
  Speaker 2: me how much would you like to raise, that's a
• 37:50
  Speaker 2: really awkward question, but I said £ 1, 000, and at the
• 37:54
  Speaker 2: moment it stands at £ 2, 280. Oh, wow.
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: That's really good, isn't it?
• 37:59
  Speaker 3: Incredible.
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: Fantastic. do you think you'll be, uh, you'll be nervous?
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: I mean, you've done a Brighton marathon, so you've got
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: running experience, but this is kind of different. You know,
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: do you feel that, uh, uh, it, because you've got
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: all these people that have donated money, there's going to
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: be a bit of pressure on you.
• 38:17
  Speaker 2: I'm apprehensive is the word. I mean, I think anyone
• 38:21
  Speaker 2: would be, but I know I will make it. I mean,
• 38:24
  Speaker 2: I want to try and do it in eight hours,
• 38:26
  Speaker 2: but the time is irrelevant. As they say, finish lines,
• 38:29
  Speaker 2: not finished times, as they say. Um, But like I said,
• 38:35
  Speaker 2: I was emotional at Brighton. I think I'll be quite
• 38:37
  Speaker 2: emotional again on this one because this one's even more personal.
• 38:41
  Speaker 2: So they might have to get the tissues ready at
• 38:43
  Speaker 2: the Canterbury stop and I'll have to adjust my makeup.
• 38:46
  Speaker 2: But no, I mean, I'm very lucky that I work
• 38:50
  Speaker 2: in a place where I can be this open about
• 38:52
  Speaker 2: it because I think some people still struggle with being
• 38:54
  Speaker 2: open at their workplace because of the, like we were saying,
• 38:57
  Speaker 2: the stigma and the shame attached to it. So I'd
• 39:00
  Speaker 2: like to thank the hospital, the charity, to gather solutions
• 39:04
  Speaker 2: who I work for, that I am able to live
• 39:07
  Speaker 2: my life openly.
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: That's brilliant. I mean, you're very brave, Paul, coming in
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: and telling us complete strangers out there in Radio Folkestone
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: about your life. And I've got nothing but admiration for you.
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: I mean, this patient to Porter, that's a great summing
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: up of what you've gone through, isn't it, in the
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: last 10 years from being a patient to a porter.
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: I mean, the people at work that you work with now,
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: obviously all your background's out in the open. Have they
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: been supportive? They must have been.
• 39:40
  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Some of them chuckle and say, well,
• 39:45
  Speaker 2: it explains a lot now, but I'll leave that down
• 39:47
  Speaker 2: to them. But, no, everyone is behind me. You know,
• 39:51
  Speaker 2: I'm very, very lucky, like I say, to have a
• 39:53
  Speaker 2: group of people where I work, where I can be
• 39:57
  Speaker 2: myself and open about it. And they understand that I'm not...
• 40:01
  Speaker 2: Some people... I don't want people to get the mistake
• 40:03
  Speaker 2: that I'm showing off. I'm not. I'm trying to give
• 40:06
  Speaker 2: hope to anybody that is sitting in their bedroom like
• 40:09
  Speaker 2: I was that we do recover. Life can get better,
• 40:13
  Speaker 2: but you have to... The hardest thing is to say
• 40:16
  Speaker 2: the words... I can't do this anymore, I need help.
• 40:20
  Speaker 2: And it sounds like you're being weak, but I always
• 40:23
  Speaker 2: say it will be the strongest sentence you ever say.
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah, the truest, yeah. Because, as you say, all those
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: years in denial, yeah, I'll be all right, have another drink, and,
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: you know, and the spiral, that's a great word, actually,
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: and let's face it, Paul, it was a downward spiral,
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: wasn't it? Yeah. But when you flicked that switch and said,
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: I need help, that's when it all changed.
• 40:44
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: So, Paul, any last words from you? Is there any
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: thank yous? I know it's difficult. It's been a journey
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: up and down. But just before you go, is there
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: anybody you want to mention? I mean, what about your mum?
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: Is she still with us?
• 40:59
  Speaker 2: Oh, God bless my mother. Yeah, I put her through it,
• 41:01
  Speaker 2: didn't I?
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: She must be so proud of you.
• 41:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah, she is. She is. And it's gone long enough
• 41:08
  Speaker 2: now that I think, like anyone would, that she's looking
• 41:12
  Speaker 2: over her shoulder thinking, oh, is he really? Is he
• 41:14
  Speaker 2: sober today? she is relaxed now to know that she
• 41:18
  Speaker 2: doesn't have to be looking in any drawers or, oh, well,
• 41:21
  Speaker 2: he looks a bit funny when she comes in, which
• 41:23
  Speaker 2: is the greatest feeling as a recovering alcoholic that people
• 41:27
  Speaker 2: accept that I am what I am. Right.
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: Well, Paul, all I can say is, well, I've said
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: it a couple of times, you've shown great strength of
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: character to come on this show and in front of
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: your colleagues, admit that, you know, what you've gone through,
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: but you've turned a corner and... I mean, the run itself,
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: I haven't looked at the weather. What's the weather like?
• 41:49
  Speaker 2: Well, it keeps changing, but I'd like it to be
• 41:51
  Speaker 2: a bit cooler because I am ginger. So cooler is
• 41:54
  Speaker 2: better for me, but it'll be fine. It looks pretty
• 41:57
  Speaker 2: good at the moment.
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: OK, well, Paul, all the best for the next Friday.
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: And I'll try and keep an eye out on them.
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: What will it be? On your charity?
• 42:06
  Speaker 3: On Instagram or Facebook, yeah.
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah, okay. I'll try and keep an eye out. And
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: I want to thank you both so much for coming in.
• 42:11
  Speaker 2: No, thank you for having us on. Thank you.
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: It's been a really enlightening morning. We've got really down
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: to the nitty gritty today. And I hope people can
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: learn by this, you know, this kind of hope for
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: us all out there. But you've just got to kind
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: of put your hand up and say, if ever you
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: need help, then just put your hand up and ask
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: for it. Okay, so we're just going to play out.
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: We haven't got much time. I'm only going to play
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: a little bit of this song. But as the summer
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: nights and days are fading, we're going to turn into
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: a forever autumn.
• 42:41
  Speaker 5: The summer sun is fading as the year grows old.
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: Like a leaf on a green OK, so there we go.
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: That's the end of today's show. What a great show
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: it was. That's it from me. Big thanks to Hannah
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: and Paul for coming in and making it such a
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: memorable morning. I'll be back on Saturday between 10 and 11.