Postie Phil fights his way back to health

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POSTIE Phil Hair is a familiar sight pounding the streets of Dumfries with his mail bag.

It’s hard to tell that the 36-year-old is the same man who battled a life-threatening illness that left him too weak to even move.
A former Queen of the South goalkeeper who also played for Annan, Phil was diagnosed with aplastic anaemia in 2007.

The dad-of-one had developed jaundice when he was told by doctors he had the rare condition which affects the bone marrow and stops it from producing healthy blood cells.

After the diagnosis, Phil underwent intense treatment including blood transfusions, bone marrow scrapes and chemotherapy. He was then told the best form of treatment would be a bone marrow transplant.

Phil’s two brothers and sister were immediately tested to see if they had the potential to help him. The chances were slim as only one in three people are a suitable bone marrow match for a relative.

Luckily, Phil’s older brother Alan was an exact match and in October 2007, he donated his bone marrow.

Since then Phil has made almost a full recovery, receiving bi-annual check-ups at the Western General in Edinburgh and Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary.

He said: “When I was initially diagnosed I went into survival mode. Although the treatment wasn’t pleasant, my first priority was to get better for my wife Rosie and son Ross, who was only eight at the time.

“When Alan was found to be a match we were over the moon.

“The illness encouraged Rosie and I to take a step back and slow down which is why we moved home to Dumfries from Musselburgh, where we lived at the time.

“It also gave me the courage to give up my painting and decorating business and become a postie.

“Ross was involved in a school competition. He had to give a talk on his hero and he chose me. It was an emotional day for us all and really brought home how an illness like mine can affect the people around you.”

Wife Rosie added: “It was really hard when Phil was having chemotherapy because the doctors had to take his resistance down to zero. He lost a lot of weight and was really ill, but you could see a big difference soon after the transplant.

“Alan is really squeamish and hates needles but had no hesitation in donating his bone marrow when we found he was a match. He was really brave.”

Now Phil will take part in a sponsored zip-slide on August 15 at the Whitesands in Dumfries to raise money for the Anthony Nolan Trust, the life-saving leukaemia charity that encourages people to sign-up to its bone marrow register.

“Had I not been so fortunate, I could have been reliant on the help of a stranger”, Phil said.

“If I can help Anthony Nolan save just one more life then I’m more than happy to take part in this event.”

[General Mannerheim]

Here is the same story that will be in the Courier.

When `Plucky `Phil Hare was diagnosed with a rare illness Atos and Royal Mail swung into action.
Delivery manager Archie McMongol kept in touch with his wife about how he was doing, Archie says "When I heard about Phil's illness I was straight round and offering him an indoor job doing the signs off,his wife however wasn't so keen so I said ok hows about next week?"
When `Plucky` Phil came out of hospital Royal Mail's excellent helpful health service(Atos) rang him up and did a telephone consultation it was agreed that he should be back to work a.s.a.p as his new bald head would shave off a few minutes delivery time as there was less `wind resistance`.

Archie says "Now that Phil is back to work we are delighted to boot him outside again in the excellent scottish weather so he can hopefully catch a cold or worst as his immune system is fooked,then I can issue a stage 3 warning and get my bonus".