'My terrifying step into old age': A special aging suit gave Amanda Platell an insight into what elderly parents endure every day
The Age Simulation suit adds 30-40 years to the person wearing it
A rugby player tried on the suit and could only manage to walk 100 yards
Amanda Platell tries the suit and struggles with the simplest tasks
By AMANDA PLATELL
PUBLISHED: 23:41 GMT, 19 March 2014 | UPDATED: 12:49 GMT, 20 March 2014
982 shares 101View
comments
Breathing deeply, I heave my leaden right leg onto the bottom step, then bring the left one up to follow it.
Leaning heavily on my walking stick, I repeat the process at a snail's pace: two feet on each step, one step at a time.
I can't see where I'm going, and the edge of the steps inside a Yorkshire hospital are perilously blurry. Once or twice I misjudge them and stumble on the carpet, coming within a hair's breadth of falling.
Amanda Platell is helped into the aging suit by Lead Dementia nurse, Anita Ruckledge +9
Amanda Platell is helped into the aging suit by Lead Dementia nurse, Anita Ruckledge
Amanda struggled with the simplest tasks whilst wearing the aging suit +9
Amanda struggled with the simplest of tasks while wearing the aging suit +9
Amanda struggled with the simplest of tasks while wearing the aging suit
There are only ten steps, but by the time I reach the top I am bathed in sweat and my heart is pounding with the exertion.
I need to sit down, but even that is a struggle. I can't bend my stiff right leg, or turn my neck to see the chair behind me, and collapse backwards into the seat, close to tears.
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I am only in my 50s, but suddenly I'm trapped in the body of an 80-year-old woman - and it is the most sobering, terrifying experience of my life.
I haven't been in a horrible accident, or suffered a life-limiting illness, but have donned a specially-designed ageing suit designed to help young, able-bodied people learn what it is like to be old.
The concept was developed by the dementia unit at the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust to help those who care for the elderly to better understand their patients' needs and fears.
Amanda Platell was given a humbling insight into the life of her parents Norma (centre) and Frank (right) who are both in their 80s +9
Amanda Platell was given a humbling insight into the life of her parents Norma (centre) and Frank (right) who are both in their 80s
Everyone from porters to doctors spends time in the suit to find out what it's really like to be an older person.
The £3,500 Age Simulation Suit aims to mimic the ageing process, adding 30 to 40 years to the person wearing it.
I've just returned from visiting my parents in Australia and wanted a taste of what they contend with now they are in their mid-80s.
Dad jokingly calls himself Frank the Fossil; Mum laughs but never complains about her dodgy knees and her growing forgetfulness.
When I told them I was going to wear an ageing suit to see what it was like to be their age, Dad quipped: 'Why bother with the suit, Mandy, you just have to look at us.' But as I discover, looking isn't really understanding.
My transformation into an elderly lady, with the help of Lead Nurse Anita Ruckledge, is rapid.
First I am given big black goggles that simulate cataracts and leave you with blurred peripheral sight and tunnel vision - which can be the result of glaucoma or age-related macular degeneration.
This means you have to painstakingly keep turning your head to identify people and objects.
That in itself is made difficult by the next part of the suit to be fitted: a neck brace that simulates a stiff neck and limited mobility.
Then I pop on a pair of ear defenders, which muffle sound, mimicking the debilitating loss of hearing elderly people often suffer.
Suddenly the world I have always known - and taken for granted - disappears. With partial eyesight, dimmed hearing and restricted movement, I feel utterly trapped.
Amanda wears a chest weight vest with the suit that simulates how old and infirm patients sense the world +9
Amanda wears a chest weight vest with the suit that simulates how old and infirm patients sense the world +9
Amanda wears a chest weight vest with the suit that simulates how old and infirm patients sense the world
Next comes a 20kg weighted vest that further restricts my movement and gives me a pronounced stoop. I feel as though the weight of the world has been placed upon my shoulders. I slump forward, not sure I can bear to face the difficult hours ahead.
I'm reasonably fit, go to the gym three times a week and walk a lot, yet suddenly I feel burdened down by my own body.
As I can't bend down myself with the vest on, Nurse Ruckledge straps weights onto my ankles, which are designed to imitate the effect of arthritis, and pushes my feet into oversized shoes containing yet more weights.
'Suddenly the world I have always known - and taken for granted - disappears. With partial eyesight, dimmed hearing and restricted movement, I feel utterly trapped.'
These immediately make my feet too heavy to lift off the floor properly, and give me the shuffling walk of an elderly person.
Another pair of weights are then strapped onto my wrists, and I stuff my hands into vibrating gloves, which mimic the effect of diseases like Parkinson's.
They send electric charges into my hands - mild pain, then severe - but mostly restrict the movement of my hands and fingers.
By now I can't quite see anyone else, I can vaguely hear them, but feel as though I'm suffocating.
Finally, a leg splint which causes the kind of stiffness elderly people often suffer in their joints is strapped onto my right leg.
My leg doesn't move like it used to; it feels appallingly stiff and leaden. It took just ten minutes to transform me from a lively, upright 5ft 7in tall woman into a bowed down old lady, my back aching, unable to do more than shuffle along with the aid of a walking stick.
Afraid I might do myself an injury, Nurse Ruckledge accompanies me around the hospital - not that I know for sure that she is there half the time. I can't clearly see my companion nor properly detect the sound of her thanks to my muffled hearing.
I feel isolated, confused and not a little frightened.
It soon becomes clear that everyday tasks 50-somethings like me take for granted, like making a cup of coffee or getting into a car, can take on gargantuan proportions when you are elderly.
I shuffle along to the coffee machine, but making a cup of coffee is beyond me. Hindered by my stiff, arthritic fingers, half the instant coffee slops unto the kitchen bench, as does most of the boiling water. I count myself lucky I haven't scalded my hand.
The suit includes features such as goggles that simulate cataracts and a weighted vest +9
The suit includes features such as goggles that simulate cataracts and a weighted vest
Giving up, I attempt to walk to my car. But negotiating a small flight of stairs almost defeats me.
I normally skip up and down the 20 or so stairs in my home, but just ten stairs takes me about as many minutes to negotiate.
At first I try to remove my glove as it restricts my grip on my walking stick, but am told sternly to leave it on (I suppose it would defeat the point of the experiment).
When I finally make it onto the street, I realise that wearing the suit hasn't just affected my body, but has changed my whole mindset.
'You should walk a mile in someone else's shoes before judging them. That's exactly what I've done'
Robbed of most of my sight and hearing, I feel lonely and defenceless; the world around me all a frightening blur.
Whereas I normally jump into my car, this time it takes two attempts and over five minutes just to get in the seat.
My stiff knee refuses to bend, I keep dropping my walking stick and my inflexible body feels as if it weighs a ton. Almost worse is the sheer embarrassment of it all.
Not that I'd be able to drive in this state. My neck is so stiff I can't turn to see over my shoulder, and my poor vision and hearing would make me a danger on the road.
I rely on my car so heavily I can't even imagine being unable to drive, but suddenly I'm stopped in my tracks by this dreadful glimpse of how my poor old Dad felt when he had to give up his car - and his independence - a few years ago.
I always console myself with the thought that my parents, in many ways, are in great shape. Mum's 85 and Dad's 87.
Both admit their bodies are wearing down and that they have their share of aches, pains and forgetfulness.
But suddenly I realise how dreadfully hard their lives must be. After just an hour and a half in the suit I am physically and emotionally exhausted.
This glimpse into what they go through in their everyday lives makes me both terribly sad and immensely proud of them.
Amanda says that having her vision and hearing impaired made her realise how lonely and isolating it must be for an older person whose senses may be permanently damaged +9
Amanda says that having her vision and hearing impaired made her realise how lonely and isolating it must be for an older person whose senses may be permanently damaged
I am also consumed by shame that I constantly encourage them to walk more. 'It's only ten minutes away,' I say, trying to lure them down to the local coffee shop on my visits home.
Not for a minute have I ever considered that I'm asking them to perform the equivalent of a half marathon.
A strapping 19-year-old rugby player who recently tried on the suit could only manage to walk 100 yards in it, yet there was me expecting my folks to walk ten times that.
Mum has had both her kn
'My terrifying step into old age': A special aging suit gave Amanda Platell an insight into what elderly parents endure every day
The Age Simulation suit adds 30-40 years to the person wearing it
A rugby player tried on the suit and could only manage to walk 100 yards
Amanda Platell tries the suit and struggles with the simplest tasks
By AMANDA PLATELL
PUBLISHED: 23:41 GMT, 19 March 2014 | UPDATED: 12:49 GMT, 20 March 2014
982 shares 101View
comments
Breathing deeply, I heave my leaden right leg onto the bottom step, then bring the left one up to follow it.
Leaning heavily on my walking stick, I repeat the process at a snail's pace: two feet on each step, one step at a time.
I can't see where I'm going, and the edge of the steps inside a Yorkshire hospital are perilously blurry. Once or twice I misjudge them and stumble on the carpet, coming within a hair's breadth of falling.
Amanda Platell is helped into the aging suit by Lead Dementia nurse, Anita Ruckledge +9
Amanda Platell is helped into the aging suit by Lead Dementia nurse, Anita Ruckledge
Amanda struggled with the simplest tasks whilst wearing the aging suit +9
Amanda struggled with the simplest of tasks while wearing the aging suit +9
Amanda struggled with the simplest of tasks while wearing the aging suit
There are only ten steps, but by the time I reach the top I am bathed in sweat and my heart is pounding with the exertion.
I need to sit down, but even that is a struggle. I can't bend my stiff right leg, or turn my neck to see the chair behind me, and collapse backwards into the seat, close to tears.
More...
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I am only in my 50s, but suddenly I'm trapped in the body of an 80-year-old woman - and it is the most sobering, terrifying experience of my life.
I haven't been in a horrible accident, or suffered a life-limiting illness, but have donned a specially-designed ageing suit designed to help young, able-bodied people learn what it is like to be old.
The concept was developed by the dementia unit at the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust to help those who care for the elderly to better understand their patients' needs and fears.
Amanda Platell was given a humbling insight into the life of her parents Norma (centre) and Frank (right) who are both in their 80s +9
Amanda Platell was given a humbling insight into the life of her parents Norma (centre) and Frank (right) who are both in their 80s
Everyone from porters to doctors spends time in the suit to find out what it's really like to be an older person.
The £3,500 Age Simulation Suit aims to mimic the ageing process, adding 30 to 40 years to the person wearing it.
I've just returned from visiting my parents in Australia and wanted a taste of what they contend with now they are in their mid-80s.
Dad jokingly calls himself Frank the Fossil; Mum laughs but never complains about her dodgy knees and her growing forgetfulness.
When I told them I was going to wear an ageing suit to see what it was like to be their age, Dad quipped: 'Why bother with the suit, Mandy, you just have to look at us.' But as I discover, looking isn't really understanding.
My transformation into an elderly lady, with the help of Lead Nurse Anita Ruckledge, is rapid.
First I am given big black goggles that simulate cataracts and leave you with blurred peripheral sight and tunnel vision - which can be the result of glaucoma or age-related macular degeneration.
This means you have to painstakingly keep turning your head to identify people and objects.
That in itself is made difficult by the next part of the suit to be fitted: a neck brace that simulates a stiff neck and limited mobility.
Then I pop on a pair of ear defenders, which muffle sound, mimicking the debilitating loss of hearing elderly people often suffer.
Suddenly the world I have always known - and taken for granted - disappears. With partial eyesight, dimmed hearing and restricted movement, I feel utterly trapped.
Amanda wears a chest weight vest with the suit that simulates how old and infirm patients sense the world +9
Amanda wears a chest weight vest with the suit that simulates how old and infirm patients sense the world +9
Amanda wears a chest weight vest with the suit that simulates how old and infirm patients sense the world
Next comes a 20kg weighted vest that further restricts my movement and gives me a pronounced stoop. I feel as though the weight of the world has been placed upon my shoulders. I slump forward, not sure I can bear to face the difficult hours ahead.
I'm reasonably fit, go to the gym three times a week and walk a lot, yet suddenly I feel burdened down by my own body.
As I can't bend down myself with the vest on, Nurse Ruckledge straps weights onto my ankles, which are designed to imitate the effect of arthritis, and pushes my feet into oversized shoes containing yet more weights.
'Suddenly the world I have always known - and taken for granted - disappears. With partial eyesight, dimmed hearing and restricted movement, I feel utterly trapped.'
These immediately make my feet too heavy to lift off the floor properly, and give me the shuffling walk of an elderly person.
Another pair of weights are then strapped onto my wrists, and I stuff my hands into vibrating gloves, which mimic the effect of diseases like Parkinson's.
They send electric charges into my hands - mild pain, then severe - but mostly restrict the movement of my hands and fingers.
By now I can't quite see anyone else, I can vaguely hear them, but feel as though I'm suffocating.
Finally, a leg splint which causes the kind of stiffness elderly people often suffer in their joints is strapped onto my right leg.
My leg doesn't move like it used to; it feels appallingly stiff and leaden. It took just ten minutes to transform me from a lively, upright 5ft 7in tall woman into a bowed down old lady, my back aching, unable to do more than shuffle along with the aid of a walking stick.
Afraid I might do myself an injury, Nurse Ruckledge accompanies me around the hospital - not that I know for sure that she is there half the time. I can't clearly see my companion nor properly detect the sound of her thanks to my muffled hearing.
I feel isolated, confused and not a little frightened.
It soon becomes clear that everyday tasks 50-somethings like me take for granted, like making a cup of coffee or getting into a car, can take on gargantuan proportions when you are elderly.
I shuffle along to the coffee machine, but making a cup of coffee is beyond me. Hindered by my stiff, arthritic fingers, half the instant coffee slops unto the kitchen bench, as does most of the boiling water. I count myself lucky I haven't scalded my hand.
The suit includes features such as goggles that simulate cataracts and a weighted vest +9
The suit includes features such as goggles that simulate cataracts and a weighted vest
Giving up, I attempt to walk to my car. But negotiating a small flight of stairs almost defeats me.
I normally skip up and down the 20 or so stairs in my home, but just ten stairs takes me about as many minutes to negotiate.
At first I try to remove my glove as it restricts my grip on my walking stick, but am told sternly to leave it on (I suppose it would defeat the point of the experiment).
When I finally make it onto the street, I realise that wearing the suit hasn't just affected my body, but has changed my whole mindset.
'You should walk a mile in someone else's shoes before judging them. That's exactly what I've done'
Robbed of most of my sight and hearing, I feel lonely and defenceless; the world around me all a frightening blur.
Whereas I normally jump into my car, this time it takes two attempts and over five minutes just to get in the seat.
My stiff knee refuses to bend, I keep dropping my walking stick and my inflexible body feels as if it weighs a ton. Almost worse is the sheer embarrassment of it all.
Not that I'd be able to drive in this state. My neck is so stiff I can't turn to see over my shoulder, and my poor vision and hearing would make me a danger on the road.
I rely on my car so heavily I can't even imagine being unable to drive, but suddenly I'm stopped in my tracks by this dreadful glimpse of how my poor old Dad felt when he had to give up his car - and his independence - a few years ago.
I always console myself with the thought that my parents, in many ways, are in great shape. Mum's 85 and Dad's 87.
Both admit their bodies are wearing down and that they have their share of aches, pains and forgetfulness.
But suddenly I realise how dreadfully hard their lives must be. After just an hour and a half in the suit I am physically and emotionally exhausted.
This glimpse into what they go through in their everyday lives makes me both terribly sad and immensely proud of them.
Amanda says that having her vision and hearing impaired made her realise how lonely and isolating it must be for an older person whose senses may be permanently damaged +9
Amanda says that having her vision and hearing impaired made her realise how lonely and isolating it must be for an older person whose senses may be permanently damaged
I am also consumed by shame that I constantly encourage them to walk more. 'It's only ten minutes away,' I say, trying to lure them down to the local coffee shop on my visits home.
Not for a minute have I ever considered that I'm asking them to perform the equivalent of a half marathon.
A strapping 19-year-old rugby player who recently tried on the suit could only manage to walk 100 yards in it, yet there was me expecting my folks to walk ten times that.
Mum has had both her kn
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