By Mette Nielsen

It is an ordinary morning in 2002. Just an ordinary morning. But for very busy Regional Sales Manager Mick Burkhill it starts in incredible pain. It feels like someone is standing on his chest. Somehow he makes it out of bed and into his car and drives to the local chemist to get some painkillers. But the chemist tells him to go to the hospital. Immediately. He gets there. And then collapses on the floor. Several hours later he wakes up in a hospital bed.

This is the morning of Mick Burkhill’s first heart attack.

“I went from running 800 miles per hour to about 0,” tells Mick Burkhill, who goes back to work and the 800 miles per hour soon after.

Unfortunately it is not to be his last heart attack, and in 2007, at age 52, Mick is back in the hospital with a stress related heart failure. And due to complications with a spinal condition, this time the prognosis is for him to move into a care home.

A lucky leaflet

But on the day he is to be picked up from the hospital, he sits waiting in the cafe, not too keen about the near future. Then his eye catches a brochure on a table: A brochure for the local Tameside Manchester council.

And it literally changes his life:

Instead of moving into a one bedroom flat away from his family, his family home is adapted and set up with Telecare.

“I went from being the problem in the family, to being the one people go to with their problems. I am the dad again,” says Mick Burkhill and adds:

“My grown up son used to come by three or four times every day to check if I was ok. Now he comes to talk about cars – not to check if I lie dead on the floor.”

And that means the world to Mick Burkhill.

A safe house

The whole key is for Mick to feel safe.

Besides the fear of having another heart attack, Mick Burkhill has a spinal condition, which has made his hands and legs numb. This means he has a hard time telling temperature, and he occasionally looses his balance, even while sitting on a chair.

“The most valuable thing I have got, is my wrist pendant. It is the core of Telecare, and besides working as an alarm if I fall, it also warns me, if I am about to fall. That means I can stop most falls from ever happening,” tells Mick.

He is also very fond of a device in his bed. Since is first heart attack, he has become afraid of going to sleep – or more that he won’t wake up. Going to bed is terrifying for him, and he even developed a habit of falling asleep while standing up. But a little monitor in his bed has made it possible for him to sleep better – and lying down.

 “It might all be a bit Big Brother-like, but I really don’t mind. It keeps me safe. All the electronics work in a partnership with me,” he says.

He also has several Telecare thermometers that let him know, if the house is too cold, or his tea water is too hot. He has several fall alarms. Burglery alarms. Movement sensors. And a device that lets him know, if he forgets to take any of his daily 27 types of medication. This is all a great help for him, and gives him the security he needs.

Part of the solution

Since 2007 when Mick Burkhill got his first piece of Telecare equipment he has turned into quite the expert: Every new piece of equipment that comes to the Tameside Community Response service he tries out and gives his feedback to the provider.

To share all this knowledge and help other people, Mick has created a blog called “Mick’s House: One man’s insight into Telecare”, which can be found at www.mickshouse.info.

“It’s just priceless to me. Telecare gives me a free life at home. A normal life,” says Mick. Burkhill.

He is very grateful to be a part of the solution, to help other people, and just to be alive:

“I have this mirror that I must smile to every morning, when I get up: I might be in tremendous pain, but I’m here to see another day.”