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16 October 2014
me and my health
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Quinnell's Last Test

Link to the non-flash version

Welsh rugby legend Scott Quinnell faces his last - and hardest - test as he tackles a controversial treatment which claims to cure the dyslexia that's blighted his life.

BBC Wales follow Scott every step of the way through the highs and lows of the exercise-based treatment, from the first assessment to the final emotional day eleven months later when the results are revealed.

Scott decides to try the Dore programme because he reads very slowly and has trouble spelling and writing "I've had fans throw autographs back in my face because I've spelt their name wrong" he says. He's never sent an email, used a computer or written a note for school for any of his three children.

His father Derek - himself a rugby legend - remembers how frustrating it was when Scott was failing at school "As a parent it goes through your mind well what is wrong ?" he says. In those days few had even heard of dyslexia.

Scott's wife Nicola explains how she's had to do everything for him from writing cheques to filling in forms. And when Scott starts the Dore treatment, which uses bean bags, wobble boards and bouncy balls to cure dyslexia, she says "Well I'll be honest with you, I thought what a load of nonsense".

Producer Sally Davies filmed Scott for nearly a year. "We follow him into the Sky Sports studio" she says "and record him as he gives an after dinner speech. We show him with his family at home and even in his hotel bedroom in London."

Scott's tackling the course for the sake of his dyslexic children Lucy and Steele, who go on it with him. "I don't want my kids to have to cope" he says "I want them to be able to do whatever they want to do, rather than have to hide behind a persona".

"At first, Scott makes little progress," says Sally "but as that classic Quinnell determination kicks in he realises it could change his life as well."

In this moving documentary, which also features archive footage of his most famous rugby moments, the normally very private Scott Quinnell shows his vulnerability and lets us see a weak side of the tough rugby hero.



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