WHEN
Angie Buxton-King's son was diagnosed with cancer at the age of
seven, she knew she would do everything in her power to relieve
his suffering and ultimately, prolong his life. Blood tests
revealed Sam had acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a cancer of the
blood and bone marrow, and he was given three months to live.
"I was completely devastated," says Buxton-King. "The doctors
told us he had a rare strain of the disease that was normally
impossible to treat. They basically told us to go home and wait
for him to die." Determined to fight the disease, Buxton-King
decided she would treat Sam herself with healing techniques to
improve his quality of life.
"I did what I think every mother would do. I vowed to try every
therapy - conventional and complementary - to give Sam more
time." Although Sam lost his battle against cancer in 1998 aged
ten, experts could find no explanation for his incredible
resilience against the disease. In defiance of his three-month
prognosis, Sam went on to live for a
further three years after diagnosis, suffering little
pain and enjoying a remarkable quality of life despite his
terminal illness.
Medical experts were so impressed with the success of
Buxton-King's methods that she was offered a job at University
College Hospital in London (UCHL), and today she is the first
paid "healer" on the NHS pay-roll.
Healing is a hands-off and hands-on therapy, which involves
channelling and rebalancing energy bodies surrounding the
physical body. Buxton-King first encountered the healing skills
she used on Sam when her mother was diagnosed with ovarian
cancer several years earlier. Before passing away in 1988, her
mother received healing therapy at the Bristol Cancer Centre.
Buxton-King began to research the subject from library books
and, after her mother's death, joined a class in reiki - a
method of hands-on natural healing in which practitioners
channel energies to create harmony within the body.
When Sam was diagnosed with AML a few years later, Buxton-King
realised she had the knowledge and skills needed to help him. A
few months into his illness, Sam was admitted to Great Ormond
Street children's hospital for chemotherapy and Buxton-King put
her healing techniques to work to relieve his suffering.
"The chemotherapy made Sam lose his hair, which he hated and
cried about. At night, I watched over him and placed my hands
gently on his body, just like the healer who treated my mother,"
she recalls.
Medical staff in the hospital were initially skeptical, but
allowed her to continue. "The doctors and nurses no doubt
thought I was completely bonkers at first, but they had no
objection. The more healing I did, the more I became convinced.
Sam should have been feeling really nauseous and weak after the
chemo but he was always very strong."
Doctors were astonished at Sam's physical resilience. In his
neutropaenic state - in which the immune system completely shuts
down and patients are susceptible to the most minor of
infections - he remained healthy. Even when his spleen was very
enlarged, Sam did not experience the extreme pain which many
children in the same situation feel. Instead, he remained
comfortable.
Following the death of her son, Buxton-King determined to bring
the power of healing to others in pain. However, a number of
hospitals she approached declined her offer of voluntary
healing, sceptical about the merits of this therapy and its
inexplicable results. "No-one can really explain how or why it
works," she admits. "It's even difficult to describe what
actually happens in words. Physical or mental pain means that
energies, or chakras, in the body get blocked and cause illness.
The healing helps unblock those energies."
Eventually, University College Hospital London allowed
Buxton-King to volunteer on its wards. Patients who had tried
every other method of pain relief welcomed her help and after a
month working in the haematology unit, staff were so impressed
Buxton-King was offered a paid permanent position, which she has
held for five years.
This vote of confidence came from the physical effects
Buxton-King produced in patients. On one occasion she was asked
to help a young cancer patient who was terrified of needles. The
doctor was trying to insert an intravenous needle and the boy
was clearly distressed. "He looked at me with tears in his eyes,
as if he knew I was there to help," she recalls. "I laid my
hands on his head. I glanced down to see his vein plump up and
the needle go in without him noticing."
Stephen Rowley, a clinical manager at UCHL, acknowledges there
is little scientific evidence to explain the effects of healing,
but he knows results when he sees them. He says: "We have seen
patients find more relief from healing than strong painkilling
opiates. We have also seen them report significant reductions in
chemotherapy-related side-effects."
As well as working at UCHL, Buxton-King treats private patients
for a range of health problems including Parkinson's, Crohn's
disease, back pain, mental illness and irritable bowel syndrome.
"Good health is a like a jigsaw, made up of many different
pieces," she says. "Physical, mental, psychological - even
spiritual health - can all play a part.
"Sometimes a problem is purely genetic and difficult to treat.
But I believe almost 80 per cent of physical ailments can be
treated via emotional means."
Buxton-King is also regularly invited to give talks to medical
experts and actively tries to promote the use of healing in
hospitals. " I can only suggest the sceptics keep an open mind.
Whatever the reason, a lot of people find these treatments offer
tremendous comfort," she says. "Whether it removes the fear of
death for the terminally ill or just provides an everyday tool
for stress management or pain relief, I've been overwhelmed by
the success healing can bring."
