Flight of hope in search of a cure

The last time Mrs Irene Bradley flew was in 1966 and she travelled the short journey from London to Paris.

The plane was so old, she says, the toilets were outside.

Fear has kept her feet on the ground ever since.

But now the fearful flier is taking to the skies again in a big way.

Mrs Bradley is preparing to travel thousands of miles to Brazil in a continuing quest to cure her son's epilepsy.

She and 31-year-old Alastair are embarking on the marathon trip in order to see a 'holy man' who might just be able to make the difference.

"I am doing this for my son," she says. "Don't think I am not scared of flying, I am petrified.

"But I feel the time is right for me to put my faith in the holy man."

The venture has become necessary through Alastair's continued dependence on medicines - conventional and otherwise.

He has had the condition since birth but his parents did not discover it until he was seven.

At times he suffers 50 fits a day. And if it is not that, it is "drop attacks" where it is as if all the bones have gone from his body.

"He has had a tough life," says Mrs Bradley, who lives in Darlington's West End. "And through it all he has stayed a wonderful person, full of courage. He is very spiritual and has taught me such a lot.

"He humbles me."

Alastair is in a wheelchair all the time except when he gets around the house on his knees.

Recently he has become interested in photography, thanks to Darlington Association on Disability which has funded a course for disabled and handicapped people.

A tutor comes to the family home two days a week and he and Alastair are now producing a book on how one thing leads to another, following a theme. All proceeds will be for DAD.

During his schooldays, Alastair was taking 13 tablets a day.

This was later reduced when he went away to school in Manchester but he missed his home.

A vegetarian, he is unable to work but goes into town a lot and spends a good deal of time on his computer.

"Everyone loves him," says Mrs Bradley.

"I am over-protective to the point of neurosis, but if I had not been he would not be here with me today.

"He can only improve through use of drugs. He is on medication constantly."

Last year, she decided to try Chinese remedies which have cost around £1,000.

Widely-read, Mrs Bradley has around 9,000 books on various subjects. She has researched and studied physics and chemistry both to help Alastair and expand her own knowledge base.

She has also studied philosophy and religions.

She says: "Alastair was jerking up to 50 times a day and wanted to stop the drugs he got from the doctor. His speech was slurred and he was like a zombie. They just knock him out.

"He started taking the herb-based remedies and the jerks stopped."

Alastair still takes the remedies obtained from the Chinese medical centre in London but Mrs Bradley is now worried about the ingredients.

"China does not seem to have any quality control so sometimes the people who make the remedies mistake a dangerous toxic weed for the herbs which go into them," she said.

"I am obviously worried about safety. I am caught between a rock and a hard place."

Curious about religion, but not religious, Mrs Bradley read about the holy man in a magazine.

She says he has healed cancers by the laying on of hands or through operations.

"After operations, there is no obvious sign but under x-ray there is evidence of stitching inside," she said. "He is not a qualified medic and an unconventional practitioner.

"But I am prepared to give it a go."

Mrs Bradley says between 300 and 1,000 people a day queue to see the holy man at a place he visits three times a week.

Alastair himself has never flown before.

"I would not let him," said his mother, adding that her son was thrilled at the prospect of going to Brazil.

"He can't wait," she said.

They plan to go some time after October and Alastair's wheelchair is being overhauled in advance for extra safety.

The holy man does not accept payment for his healing skills.

But the three-week trip is still costing around £3,500 and Mrs Bradley is using a nest egg to meet the expense.

"This was my emergency child fund to be used if any of my children needed medical attention and we wanted to skip the queue," she said.

"Alastair really needs this. He has ennobled me. I have learned such a lot through him. There is no point in him suffering any more if he can be helped.

"I am going to Brazil with hope.

"I want to see his epilepsy cured and I believe it can be through what I know of physics and chemistry."

If the visit to the holy man does not work, Mrs Bradley says she will try something else. She already has the next stage in mind - a special clinic in London.

"This quest will never stop as long as I am alive," she says.

She is taking digital, video and ordinary cameras with a view to producing a video and a book on the trip.

"I want to try to capture the feelings we get most inspiration from, to capture the feelings which go with the memory," she says.

But first Mrs Bradley - who has two other children and two grandchildren - needs to confront her fear of flying.

The journey will involve flights from Teesside to London, Heathrow to Sao Paolo and from there to Brasilia. She and her son then face a two-hour taxi ride to the place the holy man visits.

"It is a challenge to do something like this. Pushing your fears out of the way and just getting on with it," she says.

"I will also have to stop smoking while I am there as the holy man doesn't allow it.

"Some might say it's an expensive way to quit!