The researcher proceeded to ask us the same questions as before but this time the cameraman was filming the interview and taking some shots of Harry as well. Not long after we were called into Noel’s consulting room. It was really weird seeing Noel in the flesh after having watched him so many times on TV. Noel had the X rays of Harry’s legs up on his screen and he asked us a lot of questions about Harry and how we had come to have him, while at the same time taking down copious notes.
Harry was left free to wonder about the consulting room and at one point when a camera under Noel’s desk moved to get a close up of him, Harry took fright and ran off to the other side of the room!
Noel confirmed that the problem with Harry’s legs was that the tendons were hyper-extended and did not offer any support. He clarified that both legs had the same problem even though they presented in a different way. He thought it was a birth defect and not the result of any accident Harry had suffered. Noel said it would be in Harry’s best interests to have both front lower joints fused so he wasn’t in pain and would be able to walk without a limp. One leg would have to be done first and once it had healed then the other leg could be operated on. Taking into account the fact that Harry was not insured, Noel thought that the price quoted for the operation by our local vet was very good and that he was likely to do a very good job. Noel also felt that he couldn’t compete with that sort of price due to the size of his surgery and his overheads. Although Noel would use more cutting edge materials in the operation he didn’t feel that Harry would necessarily have a worse outcome if he had the operation done by the local specialist instead and he strongly advised us to take that route.
Noel did say however that if the local vet had any questions or ran into any trouble operating on Harry’s legs then he would be happy to take on Harry’s case or offer advice where it was needed.
Noel accompanied us out of his consulting room and to my utter amazement told the receptionist that there was nothing to pay. We thanked Noel and said goodbye . I checked once again with the receptionist but she confirmed that Noel had said not to take any payment. We couldn’t believe how very kind and generous this was of him, especially as our finances had taken a massive battering as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.
When we got outside we were met again by the researcher and cameraman who said that as Harry was not going to be operated on by Noel, he wouldn’t be featured in the series, but they did ask if it was OK to use some camera shots of Harry as he is so photogenic. Of course I said that was OK, so you may still get to see a film clip of Harry at Noel Fitzpatrick’s surgery.
We took Harry and Meghan for a quick walk in case they needed to do any business, then we put them back in the car and set off home.