I’m scared of
I CAN’T WAIT FOR XMAS TO BE OVER AS...
A FORMER rugby player wants to ban Christmas at his house because he is terrified of glitter.
Steel worker Phill Doherty has panic attacks if he comes close to the sticky sparkles.
And when it appears everywhere over the holidays the dadof-five’s life is a “living hell”.
Phill wants people to know the condition, called sparkalaphobia, should not be taken lightly.
The former Newport RFC ace, 42, said: “This is no joke – glitter is terrifying. People think because I’m a bloke it’s hilarious.
“I’ve learned to manage it over the years. I try to have a laugh. But the truth is this is no laughing matter for me.”
Phill discovered he had the condition 12 years ago, when his eldest daughter Francesca was aged two.
She was waving a wand around his flat, releasing glitter. When the sun shone through the window it left Phill in a panic.
He recalled: “I was having heart palpitations.
“Glitter had filled the air. It felt like I was in a silo with dust everywhere and I couldn’t breathe. I was furiously brushing myself off. I had visions of it filling my lungs.
“I’ve never liked glitter since I was kid but this was when I realised it was serious. It’s my worst nightmare.”
For the past decade Phill and wife Bronwen, 37, have joined friends for a posh pre-Christmas dinner in a hotel.
But the first event left him with palpitations after glitter erupted from crackers all over him.
He said: “I bolted to the toilet to brush myself off and regain composure.
“Nowadays people think it’s funny to come and pour it over me. I don’t think anyone realises how scary this is. Christmas is the worst time of the year.”
While most people like to tease Phill, his family, also including Joseph, 12, Beau, eight, Belle, six, and four-year-old Blue, take his phobia seriously.
He added: “With four girls it’s been impossible to keep glitter out of the house entirely.
“They do know I’m scared of it and they aren’t allowed to purposely put it anywhere near daddy.”