A Knockout of Boxers

For the second time in as many months I have a Simon and Garfunkel song running through my mind. Today it is The Boxer. However, I don’t seem to be able to get past the verse:

In the clearing stands a boxer
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of every glove that laid him down
Or cut him till he cried out
In his anger and his shame
"I am leaving, I am leaving"
But the fighter still remains…

I have played the song on my guitar many a time and depending on how many glasses of the red stuff I have consumed, the Lie-la-lie chorus can be both rowdy and long – you can listen to how the song should be sung here.

The song has probably been prompted in my mind by the many boxer and boxing stories I have heard this past week. Frank Bruno, a great British boxer, and a man of the people. He is someone who has lived with his own mental health problems. Since retiring for boxing, his charity helps folk work through their mental health issues. Last week the story broke of his recent health problems. He cancelled his speaking engagements because of an undisclosed virus that has laid him low. We wish him well and hope he is returned to full health soon.

Bruno comes from a slightly later era than that other great boxer George Foreman. George died, aged 76, last week. He lived a life! Married five times, with 12 children, including five sons, all named George. He was an Olympic Gold Medal winner, and a double heavyweight world champion. Although he lost the famous fight - the so called ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ - to Muhammad Ali, he won 76 of his fights, almost double that of Ali. Indeed, he only ever lost five of his matches. Interestingly, Foreman made nearly as much money selling his George Foreman grills, as he did from boxing.

Back in 1974, ‘that fight’ was hosted in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to help boost tourism. Today the DRC is in the midst of a humanitarian crisis. The International Rescue Committee reported last week of a ‘catastrophic deterioration in health service and humanitarian conditions’. The DRC crisis is putting some 11 million people at risk, but sadly their plight is largely overshadowed by the equally dreadful events in Ukraine and Gazza.

And last week I came face to face with Manchester’s own boxing legend, Ricky Hatton. He has been a world champion in 2 different weights, and although now retired from boxing, he is a great supporter of mental health charities. Like Bruno, in the past, he has lived with some difficult mental health problems. He was the VIP guest at the official opening of North View, our Trust’s award winning and state-of-the-art inpatient facility. 

Costing some £105 million, it provides 150 beds in what Ricky described as a ‘5-star hotel’ environment. It is a great place for sure. The building has taken nearly three years to complete, but it came in on time and on budget. Much of the design of the building, and how it might be best used was co-produced with carers, service users, members of the community and with many of my colleagues.  

I was pleased to host the event, and whilst I agreed with Ricky that the facilities were indeed 5-star, it is the folk who work in North View that can make the biggest difference to service users’ experience of mental health care. Ricky was a fabulous co-host, and one of the kindest and confident people I have met in a while.

His presence last week reminded of a visit I once made to Lagos, Nigeria. I had been invited by the East African Nurses Association to speak at their annual conference. For all kinds of reasons, I found Nigeria to be one of the most frightening places I have ever visited. I delivered my paper, but was totally unprepared for the crowds as I left the conference centre. I was surrounded by hundreds of nurses all wanting their photo taken with me. It was a terrifying experience. It was 15 minutes of fame I didn’t like. Last Friday, unlike me, Ricky was completely at ease by the massive attention many of my colleagues gave him. He posed endlessly and uncomplainingly for photos with colleagues and guests alike. He was a consummate professional and absolutely the right person to officially open our new service. Thank you Ricky - Lie-la-lie!