The Supervet Noel Fitzpatrick joins BBC Breakfast for a candid interview on how he hopes he can help people "find a way out of darkness on those dark days." In an extremely personal interview with presenter Victoria Fritz, Noel opened up about how he had been running from the "spectre" of "prolonged sexual abuse" as a child and hopes he can help anyone going through the same thing, sharing how animals have had a positive impact on his life, particularly in difficult times.
While opening up about what inspired him to write the deeply personal book 'Beyond Supervet: How Animals Make Us the Best We Can Be', he shares that there are three main points, first he wanted to highlight where veterinarians are as a profession, secondly to highlight how people love their animals and finally to share his truth, which he added: "I hope it gives them light."
The 54-year-old shared that after the passing of his mother and dog, he decided it was "really important to tell the truth." He added: "I think we're at a real crossroads with medicine and also I got to crossroads in my personal life as well, in the sense that I was harbouring a lot of challenges from my childhood that I had seen other people go through and I felt if somebody in the public eye, somebody like me, who you think is on the television, he's the 'supervet', he's doing all right, he's got it sorted - if those teenagers that are having troubles see that actually I don't have it all sorted, I'm just a bloke trying to do his best, then it might help them."
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He shared that writing about his mother and dog in the book allowed him to "rejoice" in the love he had for them and shared how a love for your animals is a "real elixir of joy of life and I wanted to try and to relay that to people in the book and reflect on that joy."
Noel also explained the many chapters in his book, from meeting the Queen, which he described as "having a chat with your Nana" as they spoke about the corgis, horses and animals, which was "so human." Other chapters also include stories from being a vet and seeing ordinary people's love for their pets.
He then opened up about the most personal chapter in his book called 'Openness'. He said: "I sustained prolonged sexual abuse as a child and I had been running from that all my life and I had met a few other similar people in that situation."
He added that meeting similar people helped him identify "the darkness that I have sublimated for 40 years." He also shared that animals became his lifeline, stating: "Animals became my best friends because I didn't trust humans."
"I don't have it all sorted out, I'm just trying to do my best, we all have some issues we need to cope with, we're in it together and I will hold your hand or paw and in that holding, there is a comfort, so that's why I told the story and that's why I've chosen to be raw because I think it's only through our vulnerability that we can possibly achieve our strength," said Noel.
After Victoria asked him if his darkness had been lifted, he was very thankful for the question, saying: "I'm OK, because writing this book has been a real help to me and I'm hoping it will be a real help to everyone that reads it and I'm not just saying that." He said he's speaking in the context of a life and death situation, adding: "I'm holding my little book and I'm offering it to you as light and hope you will see it as such and hope that together we can find a way out of darkness on those dark days."
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