Denis: Fun helps to share the pain

Mar 10 2009 by Chris Mellor, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

STEVEN “Bertie” Hinchliffe of Honley got so fed up of suffering from gout he started a group on Facebook.

He is amazed that it now has 83 members around the world.

“It’s just for fun,” he says. “But there is also a serious message to show people that gout is not a joke disease and to make them more aware.”

The group’s on-site message is, “Let’s share our pain and together we can pull through.”

Because when gout strikes, there is nothing Bertie can do but lay back in bed and endure the pain and wait for it to pass.

Many people think gout is restricted to elderly self-indulgent reprobates who pickle themselves in port while consuming vast dinners of red meat.

This Rabelaisian image is far from reality. Gout is just as much a poor man’s disease as it is one that afflicts the rich.

It is an arthritic inflammation of the joint that causes swelling and pain, commonly in the big toe, although it can also affect other joints.

Men aged between 30 to 60 are most susceptible and attacks are impossible to predict, but may be triggered by illness or alcohol.

Beer should only be consumed in moderate quantities. This is a problem to a working lad like Bertie who enjoys a pint or three. He says he definitely has poor man’s gout.

On his Facebook site he says: “People need to feel our pain and donate so we can do research and find cures and – the most important bit – buy crutches and wheelchairs to get us to the pub on a weekend, and, if we can get enough donations, maybe get a few free drinks to ease the pain.

Why not sponsor a gout sufferer today?”

So far he has attracted members, but no sponsors.

He has included his own video diary of a gout sufferer and the group is well equipped with officials. Bertie is Medical Gout Expert and World Leader, Jonathan Turton, of Leeds, is Benefits Gout Claims Manager, and there are branch managers in Sheffield, the Channel Islands, the Midlands and Morecambe. Kirsten Crooks, of South Africa, is Africa’s Fight Against Gout Director and Cherrigo Syouka, of Japan, is Far East Gout Surgeon (BUPA only).

“You’ve got to laugh,” says Bertie.

Although not too much, because it hurts.