I have just finished Ben Watt’s Patient: The True Story Of A Rare Illness. It’s his account of a life-threatening illness that nearly killed him in 1992. It has nothing to do with either ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s. What he had is called Churg-Strauss Syndrome and is incredibly rare (only 30 cases reported in the last 25 years.) And it turns out that although he had nearly all of his small intestine removed, his large bowel was unaffected, which means he can still poo. So he’s not an ostomate. Ben tells his story exceptionally well. He captures life on an NHS ward perfectly. At times it almost felt like I was there in the bed next to him. It brought back a lot of memories. He handles his book as he did his illness – with dignity, humour and not a shred of self-pity. Bloody good bloke by the sounds of it. Might have to buy an Everything But The Girl Best of… now.
