Her Arthritis Was Cured... with Honey And Vinegar
Coventry Telegraph
03-27-12
MARGARET Hills was a carefree trainee nurse in 1940s London when she was first diagnosed with arthritis at 22-years-old.
She was in extreme pain and ordered complete bed rest for four months after a Harley Street consultant told her she had a "very enlarged heart".
The eldest of seven children from Lixnaw in County Kerry, had to give up her three favourite pastimes: dancing, cycling and swimming.
Before leaving St Stephen's Hospital in Fulham the Medical Superintendent told her she must never dance, cycle or run uphill again, give up her nurse's training AND never have children.
Margaret thought to herself: "If I am to live my life like this, I may as well be dead."
She ignored the advice and finished her nurse's training in London, got married, moved to Coventry and had eight children - five sons and three daughters.
But for 16 years she continued to suffer from chronic osteo- arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis - in every joint.
At its worst Margaret was taking 12 aspirins a day and wearing a surgical collar, surgical corset and splints on her fingers.
She set out to research a cure and read all the 'natural cure' books she could find until she hit upon the treatment aged 36 that cured her of all signs of arthritis and kept her totally pain-free.
MARGARET'S' best-selling book came about after she wrote a letter about her cider vinegar cure to the Coventry Evening Telegraph in 1982.
In a 1994 interview, Margaret said: "It was a twist of fate which led me to open my clinic."
Her daughter Christine Horner, aged 58, a nutritional therapist, recalls how the letter came about. The mother-of-two said: "My mum read an article in the Coventry Evening Telegraph about the amount of money spent on drugs for arthritic diseases.
"She thought, 'this is ridiculous - what a waste!' and wrote a letter to the paper.
"She described how people could help themselves, she said it was not difficult, she had done it.
"Her life was about to change. The next day the postman delivered sacks of mail and the paper's switchboard was jammed with callers about her letter. The local response was amazing."
On June 16, a follow-up story reported how Margaret was inundated with more than 1,000 enquiries from across the country.
Christine said: "My mother printed out her treatment in the paper and it brought even more letters. Within a matter of weeks she decided to write a book.
"As well as looking after four children and her day job as a district nurse she was up at 3am to write."
The book was originally called Curing Arthritis - The Drug-free Way.
Christine continued: "She found an agent in the area who said: 'It's very difficult to get a book published'.
"But every publisher she approached wanted to publish it.
"As Margaret was a Catholic, she chose the most Christian. It was a best-seller for them, and I updated it in 2004.
"At first people kept coming in to our home in Gibbet Hill, Coventry.
"After work mum would find people waiting for her to get some advice so she set up a clinic at home charging a small fee which was donated to her favourite charity, Baby Lifeline.
"It was set up by Judy Ledger, who my parents fostered when she was 15 years old."
Margaret gave up nursing to focus on her arthritis clinic which later moved to Oaks Precinct, Caesar Road, Kenilworth.
In September 1988 she also opened the Margaret Hills Health Food Shop in Millar Court, Kenilworth.
Margaret wrote: "... day after day the letters arrive from people in various countries telling me how much they have benefitted from following the treatment... and thanking me... I feel so humble and grateful."
One young woman even flew over from Sydney, Australia with her mother hoping for an appointment.
Margaret also did talks - her last was in her home town in Ireland where 900 people gathered.
"There were so many I had to give two talks," laughed Margaret in an interview on November 25 1994.
Margaret died peacefully at her Kenilworth home, aged 78, in May 2003.
Treating Arthritis - The Drugfree Way is currently translated into six languages - Portuguese, Polish, Italian, Romanian, Finnish and Arabic.
Since the family-run Margaret Hills' Clinic opened 30 years ago it has helped thousands.
Christine Horner - the second eldest of Margaret's eight children - and her daughter, Julia Davies, continue Margaret's work.
They are both nutritional therapists and run a pain relief clinic. Christine said: "We treat around 900 people at any given time these days, with the vast majority treated at a distance - by email, phone and post. We also carry out ten to 20 face-to-face consultations and treatments weekly."
The mum-and-daughter team has received hundreds of grateful letters.
In the hallway of the clinic is a map of the world with pins in all the countries where they have patients including Peru, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Tibet, Australia, the Falklands and Jamaica.
A consultation is pounds 66.50. For more information, call 01926 854783 or visit www.margarethillsclinic.com
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