Tom Robinson

FIGHTING WITH FIRE  

Great Comebacks™ 2004 winner Tom Robinson is living proof that determination can overcome huge obstacles following stoma surgery

Tom Robinson is the man who takes the word active to the extreme. As a front-line firefighter, rescuing people is something that has driven him ever since he saw his father, who did the job part-time, returning from night shifts.

“He’d come back in the mornings after cutting people out of vehicles and pulling them from buildings, and that made me really interested.”

Yet just two years ago, Tom in a very different world – suffering from crippling pain and constant trips to the toilet, with no apparent explanation. The problems began in November 2001, when he noticed some blood in his stools.

Thinking it was just piles, he ignored it and carried on with his life. But things got worse, and two months later he finally plucked up the courage to tell his mum. She almost frogmarched him to the phone to call the doctor. And when fiancée Sallie, a nurse, heard of his symptoms, alarm bells started ringing about bowel cancer.

Weight Loss

The doctor’s diagnosis was ulcerative colitis, which brought Tom some relief. But the flare-ups continued, and started to take their toll on his health. His weight fell from over 12 stones to under 9, which at 6 feet 4 inches tall left him looking incredibly gaunt

“I didn’t realise I’d lost so much weight until I came back from the toilet with my top off and my mum started crying,” he said.

Getting treatment proved a struggle too. Tom was taking up to seven hydrocortisone tablets a day on doctor’s orders, but they weren’t solving the problem. So during a flare-up, he would be on the toilet between 10 and 15 times a day, and would regularly pass blood. As a keen sportsman, Tom has been used to an active life outside work of running, football, cricket and golf, so he was distraught. “I thought, I can’t cope with this – who’s heard of a man of 25 who can’t control his bowels?” he said. “I knew that I couldn’t be doing it at work, so it hit home that I had a real problem.”

After another flare-up in early 2003, Tom demanded a second medical opinion, and got a hospital referral. While lying in his hospital bed, a surgeon came in and announced bluntly: “I’ll take your colon out and you’ll have a bag.” Things became clearer when a second surgeon explained that he would actually be having an ileostomy. Then, Tom made a mental choice: if this was his only way out, he would take it.

He made quick progress – just 10 days later he was managing his new stoma and setting his sights on a return to work within three months. However, the following month, things went wrong. “I started getting stomach pains, which were so powerful they were bringing tears to my eyes. I was also being sick, so I saw a nurse and she realised something wasn’t right,” he said. “Within an hour I was in a hospital bed.”

Tom had peritonitis, and his bowel had burst. He was rushed into intensive care and after a seven-hour second operation, came to with an open wound 21cm long and 4 cm wide, facing two months' in hospital and six more months off work.

Recovery was both a physical and mental challenge. While in hospital, Tom at times found himself with only four walls and a TV to keep him occupied. Luckily, Sallie was able to take two weeks off work to stay with him. As his determination grew, he began to make progress.

Eventually, Tom was discharged, and found himself going to stir crazy at home instead. The hardest thing was getting around and accepting that you’d gone from what you were to hunched up with something strange stapled to you,” he said. “Walking up and down the stairs became the hardest thing in the world.”

Getting back to work

As Tom’s condition improved, he was able to walk to the paddock near his house, then to the supermarket, and eventually began riding his bike. But the reality of life kicked in: he had a mortgage to pay, and holding on to his job was crucial.

Fortunately, he also had a supportive divisional operations commander who checked how he stood, and an occupational health team that gave him the green light to go back to work if he proved his fitness. A dietician helped him put on the weight he had lost, and the team developed his own personal exercise regime.

In the meantime, he was put on light duties for six months, so to ease his frustration he spent much of this time in the gym, building up his strength.

“I had to convince myself of my fitness,” he explained. “If you go into a house on fire, you’re a team of two. If I were to go down I’d be putting my colleague at risk because they’d have to get me out.”

While his close colleagues had faith and helped him, he had to regain the trust of the other regional firefighters. Some said he shouldn’t be back on the front line, but Tom both needed and wanted to prove them wrong.

On the front line

Tom’s spirit and drive have paid off. He passed the fitness test and is now back as a full-time firefighter. He loves the challenge, variety and spontaneity of his job. “You don’t know what you’re going to be doing ‘til you see the computer screen,” he said. “But when you pull somebody out of a dangerous situation, you know you’ve done some good.” Life has changed in other ways for Tom. On 18th June 2004, he and Sallie got married – and unknown to him, she nominated him for the 2004 Great Comebacks™ Awards, which he won in July. He and his wife took a 10-day trip from Los Angeles across the desert to Las Vegas and back, taking in the Grand Canyon on the way.

Aside from a slight change in diet and giving up football, most things are back to normal for Tom. He captained his fire brigade’s cricket team last summer, and is still going to the gym, swimming and fishing. And, best of all, his wife Sallie is expecting a baby on their wedding anniversary.

His determination remains as strong as ever. “If someone says you can’t do something, you say why can’t I, just because I go to toilet differently? This was my chance to keep going, so I had to grasp the nettle and get on with it.”