Surviving knife crime trauma

Sussex Newspapers group arts editor and marathon runner Phil Hewitt is beating back the demons with a book which celebrates the mental health benefits of running. He will be talking about the book, Outrunning The Demons (Bloomsbury, 2019), at Graylingwell Chapel, Chichester, PO19 6BZ on Thursday, February 23.

As Phil says: “Running can take us to fantastic places. Just as importantly, it can also bring us back from terrible ones. for people in times of crisis, trauma and physical or mental illness, running can put things back together again .”

After watching a cricket match in Cape Town, South Africa, six years ago, Phil was mugged – stabbed, punched, kicked and effectively left for dead in a grim, desolate suburb. Astonishingly, just as he could feel himself starting to drift away, he was scooped up and whisked to hospital by a passing pizza delivery driver. Two deep stab wounds, 18 stitches, three broken ribs, Phil resolved to put himself back together again by getting back to his first love, running…. And it proved a remarkable way to outrun the demons of PTSD and his bloodsoaked pavement. Which is why it became the title of his book – Outrunning The Demons. In it, Phil tells of his own experiences and their aftermath – and also interviews 34 people from around the world who, as he says, have been to hell and discovered that the surest, safest, quickest way back was to run. He interviewed people caught up in 9/11 and the Boston Marathon bombing; people who have suffered addiction, alcoholism, anxiety, depression, violent and sexual assault; and sheer bad luck. Talk start sat 7 pm. licensed bar. graylingwellchapel.com/whats-on/