11:38am Tuesday 31st August 2010
By Chris Harris
ON a good day he struggles to walk 100 metres on crutches.
But when he hits a low the Southampton father-of-three is bed-bound and so riddled with pain he has to take morphine for relief.
Yet next month James Buckley is attempting a huge challenge – climbing out of his wheelchair to climb St Catherine’s Hill, Winchester.
He is looking to raise thousands for The Pinder Centre, near Winchester, whose hydrotherapy pools have turned his life around.
The 44-year-old’s world was turned upside down in an instant eight years ago when doctors told him he had a tumour on his hip the size of his own head.
Surgeons moved quickly to remove his entire pelvis, instead attaching his leg to his hip. The episode has damaged vital nerves, leaving him in severe pain.
The former intensive care nurse said: “I was a bloke who went to work and saved lives.
“Now I’m the bloke that gets up and has to be helped to get into the bath. I can’t even sit at the table with my kids to have a meal.”
Mr Buckley, of Gannet Close, Lordswood, Southampton. has since had several life-threatening operations.
He revealed that he hit a low point earlier this year when hydrotherapy – one of the only treatments that relieved his pain – began becoming too expensive.
But he says his life was turned around when he discovered The Pinder Centre which, as a charity, offered him discounted treatment.
The former Westgate School pupil said: “It’s turned round my life, I can’t believe the impact it has had.
“In April I was a person who was depressed and seriously considering acts of self-harm. I was in a desperate situation.
“In a few months’ time I’m now thinking of climbing the biggest hill to my home.
“When I am in the hydrotherapy pool my pain fades in the hot water and makes me normal again for a brief, magical, 30 minutes.”
Family and friend Alice Peterson will join him on the September 11 challenge.
To support James and The Pinder Centre, visit justgiving.com/Up-the-Hill-Appeal.
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