Born and Bred
A Yorkshire Family
Richard Nigel Porter
Richard's Story
Richard Nigel Porter was born on the 12th of September 1955, his birth was not without complications and this was to have consequences in later life. His early childhood was a happy one and he was extremely quick for his age, being especially good at mathematics and he was expected to fly through his 11+ exam.
However, in 1965, he unexpectedly started being sick and suffering from violent headaches, becoming quite ill. When the doctor visited his home and examined him he was immediately rushed to hospital where he underwent a serious head operation.
Eventually he came home, but he remained off school for a long time and his whole demeanour changed. His head had now swollen and he had a shunt inserted to relieve the pressure. His parents were told that he would have to be careful and not take any knocks to his head as this might lead to blindness and/or brain damage. He didn't pass his 11+ exam and when he eventually left school, where he was constantly bullied because of his appearance and the fact that he couldn't join in the rough and tumble of school games, he did so without any qualifications.
He tried a number of different low paid jobs and eventually ended up working at a local petrol station until it closed down, after which he got a job as a driver for a photo processing company.
He never really had any hobbies or friends, but he enjoyed going sea fishing with his father at Whitby and would regularly come home with lots of mackerel. Richard also enjoyed going to the races, once again with his father.
However, unbeknown to anyone, the pressure in his head had begun to build up again and he was rushed into hospital. He eventually made a slow recovery, the pressure on his head was relieved, but there was now the increased possibility of loss of vision and blackouts, consequently he was no longer allowed to drive and had to give up his job.
Richard, was never easy to get on with, he was nearly always angry about something and railed against the world, however, he was always hard-working, very honest and conscientious, and on his better days, was happy enough to help out his close family when he could.
Towards the end of 2012 he suffered a stroke and the pressure in his head continued to cause him problems. It was shortly after this that he was diagnosed with epilepsy and his personality took a change for the worse. He had always had problems making friends and interacting with people, but now he thought everyone was against him, especially his own family.
A few years after his mother's death in 2013, Richard could no longer look after himself and moved into a series of care homes, none of which he really settled in. Then in 2017 he suffered another stroke and bleeding on the brain and sadly died. His life had turned out so different from those happy, promising days of his childhood.