Shay Healy invites TV3 cameras into his home.

Wednesday 25th, 17:08pm

For further information:

Sharon McHugh
TV3 PRESS OFFICE
+3531 419 3430 / 087 922 4143
sharon.mchugh@tv3.ie
publicity@tv3.ie

Ciara Byrne
+353 1 419 3329 / 087 3199732
ciara.byrne@tv3.ie

TV3 GROUP RELEASE

IMMEDIATE: 17th September 2013

Shay Healy invites TV3 cameras into his home.

In an exclusive interview with MIDWEEK, Shay Healy gives TV3 access to every aspect of his life and lays bare, the awful effects of Parkinson’s disease on a brilliantly creative mind.

Shay admits to having tried cannabis to ease the muscle pain brought on by the debilitating disease and opens up on his fears of developing dementia.

Midweek airs on Wednesday at 10pm on TV3.

Video link of the full interview is available on request

In an exclusive interview with MIDWEEK, musician, broadcaster and journalist Shay Healy invites TV3 cameras into his home. He speaks about the frightening moment a specialist confirmed he had Parkinson’s disease, his love of music and the frightening prospect of developing dementia.

Speaking to Midweek’s Michael Ryan, Shay remembers the first time he realised something was amiss.

“The first time I noticed something odd was when I was shaving one morning – I sprayed the gel onto my hands and I started to put it on and I suddenly found I couldn’t get a circular motion with my hand so I had to kind of use this brush, and it felt kind of odd. Then I remember I was in the library in RTE and I reached for a CD to pull it from the rack and it seemed like I lost a micro second somewhere along the way and when I pulled it, it was a different CD – I thought that’s very strange.

So I was at the doc and I was writing a cheque for him and I said “Jesus Neil, my writing’s got so small it’s unbelievable.

He said ‘You better get yourself checked out, and I said ‘for what?’ He said, ‘for Parkinson’s’.

So I went to a specialist in Blackrock and he said ‘yes you have Parkinson’s disease’. He was quite brutal actually. There was no sense in lightening the load, in telling me gently.

I said ‘what do I do?’ He gave me a prescription and said ‘take one of those every day and come back and see me in a year’.

I thought that’s bewildering. The first thing we said was I’d get a second opinion so I got a second opinion and they said ‘yes it’s definitely Parkinson’s’. Then I said I wanted a third opinion, so I dug out an old friend who had retired and he saw me in his house and said ‘yes I’m afraid you have Parkinson’s’.”

Shay also spoke of his love for music and how it instantly makes him feel better.

“The studio is my natural home. I like going into it, I love the atmosphere. I like the way a song comes together. The first time you hear a song come together is a magical experience. Steve in Limetree has done wonders with the song I wrote for Andrew Curran for Parkinson’s.

The studio cures me. When I’m around music I feel better. For a long while I was a sound floor chief – arms waving all over the place. I had very slight tremors at one stage in one hand. My feet have been dragging for a long time. One of my friends described it as having clowns shoes. I can’t step gingerly anywhere, over cables and things – I have to take great on steps of any sort. I’m holding on to the handle for dear life. The general unpredictability of how I go about day to day is an extreme frustration in my life. I haven’t been on a plane for about two years now.”

Do you take medication every day?

“Every day. In the morning, midday, mid-afternoon, evening and night time.

When questioned if he ever tried cannabis, Shay said: “Yeah I’ve had a bit of an old toke in the past and his hasn’t done me any harm. I’m sure it probably would relax the muscles. I woke up this morning with a cramp. I was woken by a cramp so extreme in my right leg that I levitated it for about a minute and a half in agony, so anything that would take that away…mind you I’d find it hard to roll a joint first thing in the morning!”

Are you in pain most days with it Shay?

“I have horrendous pain in the morning and at some stage in the day I’ll have pains around my hips mostly, my upper arms. It depends on where I am, where I land and what chairs I sit on, things like that, but by and large I’ve been lucky. I haven’t degenerated as fast as other people but the only thing unsavoury about it is that I know that will change. It is degenerative. It will keep going. And they keep finding these miracle cures that they’re working on and they all say at the end of it ‘but it won’t be here for ten years and I’m looking at them saying well the odds have shortened considerably here now. It’s 2/1 I last long enough for this magic cure they’re coming up with.”

Shay speaks about the hallucinations he has suffered. Although a bit of a strange experience, Shay admits his worst fear is the idea of developing dementia.

“I went through a very bad month of extreme hallucinations all day. I get flashes all day. It’s a combination of if I’m looking over the top of my glasses and things are a tiny bit fuzzier than they might be, lamps and coat hangers and footballs – they take on extraordinary faces and personas.

I might come down to the kitchen at 3 o’clock in the morning and the couch would have three people sitting on it, and there’ll be two more over at the window chatting. Where these people come from I don’t know but they’re all well dressed, ABC1’s you know! They’re not giving me any hassle but it’s kind of stupid, I treat them like a cat – I say ‘scat’ and they’re gone.

I’m not scared. I’m Old Man River. Tired of living and scared of dying. I could do without the daily pain. But I’m not scared. I don’t believe in them things, that probably colours it a little bit. I’ll become a bit of stardust, that’s what’s going to happen me. I’ll be winking down at all you guys running around making documentaries about people who have mysterious ailments.”

When pushed if the disease made him angry or got him down, Shay said:

“I haven’t allowed it to get me down and I haven’t cried. I’m frustrated by it because I really should be performing more.

My one concern is that I might eventually arrive at the doorstep of dementia which wouldn’t be nice. We all have memory loss at this stage of our lives anyway – you can’t remember somebodies name or whatever else.

I haven’t had any serious touches with it except for one day when everything went haywire for about 6 hours and I literally didn’t know who was here.

I couldn’t hold on to any thoughts and it was a very scary experience. I thought if that’s what dementia is like I don’t want it. But it’s not a given that I’ll deteriorate that much.

He added jokingly: “There’s no dementia evident on my dad’s or mam’s side of the family so I have my fingers crossed that I won’t get….what was I talking about?”

Midweek airs on Wednesday at 10pm on TV3.

Video link of the full interview is available on request

Images have been sent to your picture desks

ENDS

For further information
Ciara Byrne

Press Officer

00353 1 419 3329

00353 87 319 9732

Sharon McHugh
Head of Press & Publicity

00353 1 419 3430
00353 87 922 4143

publicity@tv3.ie
www.tv3.ie

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