A former police dog handler says he wants to challenge feelings of isolation and loneliness in older men after a diagnosis of Parkinson’s made him feel like he was “disappearing”.

Paul Nicholls, 58, from Colchester, left his dream job with Essex Police after learning he had the condition 11 years ago.

Initially, he said he was “too embarrassed” to tell anyone about it – but now he is the joint manager of the England Parkinson’s Walking Football team.

He said walking football “changed my life and it brought me out of my shell again,” adding: “When I was playing for that hour – it was liberating and like I was free from the condition.”

Research from Age UK in 2024, external revealed that 940,000 people over the age of 65 often felt lonely.

‘Sport stopped me disappearing with Parkinson’s’

‘Band of brothers’

Nicholls made an appointment to see a neurologist when he was 47 after noticing his particular symptoms were not improving.

“I was shuffling,” he said, “my handwriting was getting worse, my speech was getting worse.

“The neurologist said ‘you’ve got Parkinson’s’ and I couldn’t believe it, I’m too young to have Parkinson’s.”

Determined to keep active, he joined a walking football team three years ago.

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Nicholls said: “We’re all the same age, we’re all experiencing the same thing, we’re all a band of brothers.

“We had one guy who hadn’t left the house in three years and he started playing walking football and hasn’t looked back since.”

He said it was a relief that his teammates understood what it was like living with Parkinson’s.

“It’s like a men’s shed and it’s just a safe space where they guys can come together and talk to each other,” he added.

“When I was younger, [mental health] was sort of frowned upon, particularly around men.”

The men who came to the groups “have changed for the better and they’re more open”, he said.

CONTINUE READING at source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj405yv2pyvo