After suffering a 6ft fall from a stage at London’s O2 Arena last year, actor Stephen Fry was left with chronic pain, which has necessitated constant physiotherapy. Speaking with Professor Irene Tracey, Vice Chancellor of the University of Oxford, on Radio 4’s Today programme, Fry explained how he “sometimes thought of his chronic pain as a friend” as he attempted to live with his condition. He added that “living with chronic pain makes you afraid of basic movements.”
As a neuroscientist, Tracey used her guest editorship of the show to focus on the study of pain, discussing with Fry and former Olympic athlete Mo Farah how they coped with theirs. Fry mentioned that pain can sometimes be seen as something that should be endured and that some people feel that “we should suffer if we have this injury, that it is the natural course.” Tracey agreed, describing pain as a subjective and almost unquantifiable experience.
Tracey also discussed Oxford University’s ongoing research into chronic pain, of which there is still much work to be done. As she observed, “pain is an oddity in its own self.”
The radio programme was also guest edited by presenter and author Baroness Floella Benjamin, former Chancellor Sajid Javid and British cyclist Dame Laura Kenny, along with several others. A Thought for the Day was also delivered by Pope Francis, who offered a message of hope to listeners
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