Richard Larkin
County rugby player
Considering the ridicule that was poured upon ex-England boss, Glenn Hoddle, after he revealed his associations with “healer” Eileen Drury, you would imagine that any sportsman worth his reputation would think twice before telling the world that he ventured down the road of this often controversial treatment – especially when he comes from the world of rugby.
Yet Tunbridge Wells and Kent fly-half Richard Larkin had such an amazing experience at the hands of local spiritual healer Douglas Ballard that he was more than happy to tell his story.
Suffering a compressed Achilles and torn tendon injury just ten days before he was due to play in the Kent Cup Final for Tunbridge Wells first team, Richard left a physiotherapy clinic with a heavily strapped ankle and a pair of crutches that would be his aid to mobility for the next eight weeks.
Almost resigned to having lost his chance to appear in the cup final, Richard was offered a faint glimmer of hope from his wife Angie, who had been successfully treated by Douglas Ballard and suggested he “give him a try”.
“I was very cynical about the whole thing,” revealed Richard, “after all, I had a medically diagnosed injury. But, I was also desperate to play in the final, so I decided to go along.”
With less than seven days to go to the final, Richard, 33, found himself sitting on a couch in Douglas Ballard’s consulting room in Tonbridge, Kent, staring at his crutches leaning against the wall and feeling his cynicism rising.
“As Douglas spoke to me, I thought perhaps I was in for some hypnotic mumbo jumbo,” said Richard. “But then he placed his hands on my shoulders and I felt what I can only describe as a ´strobing´sensation coursing through my body. He then placed his hand on my ankle and it felt like a bunsen burner had been lit under my leg”. Richard recalled the sensation vividly. “I felt like my ankle was in a vice and I asked Douglas to stop gripping my ankle, but when I looked, he simply had the palm of his hand flat on my leg! He removed his hand and told me to stand up.”
Richard was simply not prepared for the Lazarian-like event that followed. “I swung my legs off the couch and walked towards my crutches, absolutely pain-free!” he recalled. “Douglas remarked that I wouldn’t be needing them and he was right! I wandered around the waiting room in a state of shock, hopping and balancing on the injured ankle that an hour earlier I could not stand on, even for a second.
Having played football, cricket and rugby at a high level, Richard was more than aware of the usual recovery period for injuries and was astounded that only two days later, he found himself on the rugby pitch, back in training for the final. He also found unexpected support from his physiotherapist, who was not unduly surprised by his rapid recovery, having heard of similar cases before.
Unfortunately, Richard could not reach the 100 per cent fitness needed to make the Cup Final team, but nevertheless was still amazed at the instant relief from pain he received following his meeting with Douglas and his ability to walk unaided from the room that he had entered on crutches earlier that evening.
Richard, head of Human Resource Solutions at BT Ignite, went into work the next day, able to refuse the offer of an automatic car that had been ordered to help him stay mobile for his expected two months incapacity. “My colleagues simply could not believe it,” said Richard. “The previous day I had left the office on crutches – the following morning I was effectively back to normal duties.”