ANYONE meeting a member of the Royal Family would normally mind their Ps and Qs.
But when John Davidson came face to face with King Charles he called him a “f***ing parasite”, and on the way to see the late Queen Elizabeth, he shouted “f**k the Queen”.
When John Davidson met King Charles he called him a ‘f***ing parasite’, and on the way to see the late Queen Elizabeth, he shouted ‘f**k the Queen’Graeme Hunter
The then-Prince Charles meets Tourette’s sufferer John
Times Newspapers LtdJohn was the subject of the cult documentary John’s Not Mad, pictured here with Dorothy Achenbach, whom he considers his mother after she took him in[/caption]
But neither took offence as they knew John has Tourette’s syndrome.
The 54-year-old Scottish caretaker has spent almost four decades trying to raise understanding of the condition.
And today the film I Swear, based on his memoirs, hits cinemas, starring Maxine Peake and Shirley Henderson.
The critically acclaimed comic drama tells how people thought John was mad or playing up when he made involuntary gestures, including punching others and himself.
In 1989, aged 16, he appeared on an episode of BBC science documentary series Q.E.D. called John’s Not Mad in the hope that people would not judge him so harshly.
It was the first time anyone with Tourette’s had been seen on British television.
Since then, high-profile names including singers Lewis Capaldi and Billie Eilish have revealed they have the syndrome, too.
But it was having the Queen know about his condition when he collected his MBE in 2019 that made him feel accepted.
John, from Galashiels on the Scottish Borders, tells The Sun: “While I was standing waiting to go into the hall, the tic I didn’t want to shout is ‘F**k the Queen’ and that’s the next thing I say at the top of my voice. I thought ‘Oh no’.
“One of the officials put his hands on my shoulder and said, ‘Don’t worry, the Queen understands’, and at that point I felt accepted.
Two fingers at strangers
“The Queen was a lovely lady and said she was going to get one of the boys to send her the documentaries I had been in.”
The first symptoms of Tourette’s do not normally appear until the age of six.
The syndrome affects more than 300,000 people in the UK, although only ten per cent develop a compulsion to swear.
I had just had enough. I just walked into the river one day, thinking I would sink to the bottom and that would be it. I wanted to make it stop.
Milder forms of the neurological disorder tend to result in eye-rolling or blinking.
John was a happy-go-lucky child who loved playing football as a goalkeeper until the first signs emerged when he was 11.
He recalls: “The first symptoms were rapid eye blinking and shrugging my nose and it developed into a compulsive cough.”
The youngster spat food all over the dining table, swore at his teacher, kissed lamp-posts and stuck two fingers up at strangers.
Not knowing what was going on, other pupils branded him a “freak” and one of his teachers sent him into a cupboard.
John says: “I felt isolated because nobody understood what was going on.
“I thought I was going nuts.
“People kept saying, ‘Stop it, you don’t have to do it’, but I did, to get away from the horrible feeling.
“Mum and Dad weren’t understanding.
“They started to argue about it.
“I felt I was to blame.”
John, who is extremely chatty during our conversation and does not swear at all, says he is naturally outgoing and enjoys company.
But the reaction of others to his Tourette’s meant he spent time alone in his room or fishing.
And at 13 he tried to take his own life.
John says: “I had just had enough.
“I just walked into the river one day, thinking I would sink to the bottom and that would be it.
“I wanted to make it stop.”
He survived and was placed in a hospital ward where doctors tried to treat him.
John says: “They wondered if it might be mental health or a brain tumour.”
Fortunately, a junior doctor on the ward had met a patient with Tourette’s while working in England.
After being diagnosed with the syndrome aged 14, John was prescribed drugs to reduce the strength of his compulsions.
GettyJohn says he finally felt accepted when the Queen understood his Tourette’s outburst as he collected his MBE in 2019[/caption]
John receiving his MBE at Buckingham PalaceAlamy
Sixteen-year-old John with his natural motherBBC
That helped a bit, but he would still shout “c” in the supermarket or make sexual remarks to young women.
He knew he had to find a way to live with Tourette’s, which has no cure.
John explains: “I was told it was a life-long condition and there is no cure.
“From then I had to try to live with it and understand it.”
Charged with assault
So he accepted the chance to appear in the Q.E.D. documentary in the hope that others would understand it as well.
He says: “I took advantage of the platform to highlight what Tourette’s is.”
While many people apologised to him for their previous reactions to his condition, a minority did not respond so well.
An exorcist came to his home offering to “drive out a demon” from John’s body, while others tried to get him to swear at them in the street.
One such incident when he was 18 saw John, who could not control his arm movements, end up in court.
He says: “One night we were in a pub and a bunch of lads thought my Tourette’s was hilarious.
“At the end one of my hands ended up hitting one of the lads and breaking his nose.
“It was involuntary.”
He was charged with assault and John did not help himself by calling the prosecutor “drunken McNeill’ at the top of his voice in the courtroom.
But the case was dropped when the judge realised how serious John’s Tourette’s was.
Q.E.D. led to him meeting mental health nurse Dottie Achenbach who wanted to help him live a normal life.
Dottie, who is played by Maxine in I Swear, invited him to stay at her home and helped him get a job as a caretaker.
Over the next few decades John spoke to other youngsters with Tourette’s and organised outings for them so they felt less isolated.
As a result of his good work in the community John went to the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh to receive his MBE in 2019.
I want to change the narrative around Tourette’s. Let’s talk about Tourette’s as something we should celebrate
The stress of the occasion meant it was very hard for him to be on his best behaviour.
When the police inspected the underside of his vehicle as he drove in, he shouted, “A bomb, I’ve got a f***ing bomb,” out of the window.
But by the time he actually received the medal from Her Majesty, his tics were small bodily movements rather than swearing.
Now there is hope that John will be able to control his fears in these situations.
Researchers at Nottingham University have developed a wrist device that appears to dramatically reduce compulsions.
In 2023 John tried out the hi-tech prototype, which sends electrical impulses to the cortex of the brain.
It reduced his anxiety by 90 per cent, but John says: “I don’t want a cure. The whole point of the device is you can turn it on and off when you please.
“I would not want to use this device all the time and I wouldn’t want other people with Tourette’s to be pressured into it.”
John is much more content having worked at the same community centre for 34 years, but has never settled down with anyone.
He says: “I am still single, I still have Suki my black labrador.
“I might go out for a drink with a single female but it is difficult.
“I still hope I will someday find someone who accepts me for who I am.”
And he hopes the movie will help other people with Tourette’s be accepted in society as well.
John adds: “The whole aim of doing the film was to tell my story.
“I know there is a lot of dark stuff, but there is a lot of good stuff as well.
“I want to change the narrative around Tourette’s.
“Let’s talk about Tourette’s as something we should celebrate.”
I Swear is in cinemas today. John Davidson’s book I Swear is published by Penguin, £11.99.
PA:Press AssociationKing Charles was aware of John’s condition and took no offence[/caption]
PARobert Aramayo as John Davidson and Maxine Peake as Dorothy Achenbach in new film, I Swear[/caption]
GettyJohn and Robert Aramayo attend the I Swear London gala screening last month[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
