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| John Pepper |
Brandt Teale | 18th Feb 2016
AT 81 YEARS of age, the first thing that
strikes you about John Pepper is how fit he is.
He walks for an hour every day at a
cracking-fast pace, and has an exercise and movement regime that keeps his body
active and healthy.
In fact, he seems a picture of health.
It's hard to imaging he has suffered
Parkinson's disease for most of his life.
"In 1963, when I was in my late
twenties, I suddenly found that I was unable to throw a ball properly. That was
the beginning of the Parkinson's," he said.
"Many years later, while I was playing
darts, I suddenly found I couldn't release the dart properly. Darts became a
dangerous and exciting game with much laughter in our family, because I
wouldn't just miss the board when I did release the dart, I would miss it by a
mile.
"In the mid to late '60s, without
knowing it, I had become extremely depressed. My wife pointed out that I had
become withdrawn and antisocial and that nothing seemed to interest me anymore.
"Then, one day in 1982, I was invited to
play bowls at a Rotary fellowship event, and again, my hand wouldn't let go.
When it did, the bowls would go flying up in the air, making a big dent in the
green when landing.
"I was also finding it increasingly
difficult to walk across uneven ground without stumbling."
About 10 years later, Mr Pepper was diagnosed
with Parkinson's disease, an incurable and degenerative disease that affects
muscle control and movement comprehension, which he described as a slow and
undignified dying process.
Mr Pepper, from Cape Town in South Africa,
visited the Sunshine Coast this week for a Parkinson's seminar at
Maroochydore's Waterfront Hotel, where he talked about his life's journey.
But it wasn't a tale of woe.
Quite the contrary.
"There is no cure for Parkinson's
disease but I have found a specific regime of physical exercise and using the
conscious brain to control actions can help many of us overcome our own
debilitating symptoms," he said.
"In the 1990s I was doing a lot of
walking and I suddenly realised that if I thought really hard about my body's
movements, I could control them better and overcome the falling and clumsy
movements.
"The thing about Parkinson's is not that
your body can't do things properly, it's just that the brain is not getting the
message through.
"So, a simple job that we all do without
thinking, like walking or eating, becomes complicated.
"I found that if I broke down each
movement in my head and concentrated hard, I could teach my body to do things
in a normal way.
"I just realised that Parkinson's does
not have to be a death sentence."
He now travels the world to share his methods
of disease management, addressing Parkinson's awareness groups, help-provider
services, medical forums and public seminars.
The spritely octogenarian has also written a
book, Reverse Parkinson's Disease, which candidly tells of his experiences and
how to manage the disease.
His tour continues to Victoria and Tasmania,
and then to New Zealand, Canada and the US.
Details on Mr Pepper's tour, his book and
other information can be found at http://www.reverseparkinsons.net.
To see video go to:
http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/news/Meet-the-man-who-walked-away-his-Parkinsons/2935642/
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