Replay: Walking on fire

Over the past few years, the Wellcome Trust has made over 100 films about science, medicine and their crossover with culture. In a new series, our Multimedia Editors highlight some films you may have missed.

Chronic pain can be caused by nerve damage, resulting in the incessant generation of pain signals to the brain (where pain is actually perceived) or from genetic mutation – all it takes is one malformed protein in the wrong place and a person can be left to suffer a lifetime of grief. The London Pain Consortium (LPC) is a collective of scientists working to end chronic pain. Led by Professor Steve McMahon, King’s College London, these scientists are tacking chronic pain from every conceivable angle.

When asked to make a film about the LPC, the first thing I knew the film needed was a human centre, a role kindly filled by Janet and Lucy Mahar, a mother and daughter who both suffer from the same condition – chronic pain in their feet. To listen to them describe the impact this condition has had on them is shocking. Any form of contact, including shoes: pain. Walking: like being in contact with burning sand or broken glass. Trips to the supermarket: they must park as close as possible to the entrance to minimise walking…

The reach of chronic pain extends to their minds too. Lucy, the daughter, had to abandon plans for a sports career, while Janet has to endure accusations of ‘laziness’ when she’d rather avoid walking. These are the people, the reason, at the heart of the LPC’s research; what starts in the lab must, at some point, end in the clinic.

At their clinic, David Bennett, a physician and member of the LPC, informs Janet of the reason for her condition, a pain-causing mutation in her DNA. Then, in true cliffhanger style, Lucy agrees to undergo a genetic test to determine whether or not she has the same mutation.

This is still one of my favourite films, in large part due to the larger-than-life characters of Janet and Lucy, two pragmatic women doing their bit to help. As is often the case, it also felt like part one of a bigger story – does Lucy have the mutation? Will this mutation open doors to new treatments? It would be lovely to make a new film with the Mahar’s one day, free of chronic pain, living a life they can currently only dream of.

David Bennett: “When the pain’s bad, if you had to grade it, where 0 is no pain and 10 is the worst pain you’ve ever had, what would it rate on that scale?”

Lucy: “10 onwards.”

Barry J Gibb, Multimedia Editor, Wellcome Trust

Watch more of the Trust’s films on our YouTube channel.