When you see 25-year-old Christopher Sands doubling over in pain, vomiting and collapsing behind the wheel, you soon realise his condition is a tad more serious than this tongue-in-cheek title suggests. Hiccupping for over two years and undergoing every possible treatment including acupuncture, hypnotherapy and oxygen chambers, NHS doctors are totally baffled by Chris’s condition. And so is Chris. “I’ve had a brain scan, heart scan, two tubes down my nose and they still don’t know what’s wrong.” He has even resorted to an extreme homemade remedy, downing as much water as possible to deny himself oxygen. Born with a weak stomach valve that has caused him difficulties keeping food and water down, Chris believes his accompanying heartburn lead to his non-stop hiccupping. After an operation to repair the valve, which doesn’t stop the hiccups, you start to feel compassion for the man who says, “You can only be proactive for so long until there’s nothing to be proactive about.” One scene leads to another and somehow the Japanese media, namely “World Astonishing News,” gets hold of Chris’s unusual plight. It’s definitely astonishing enough for them; before you know it a doctor decides to fly out free of charge to Lincolnshire with a promise to cure him in eight days. One look at his Hello Kitty dictionary, however, and you wonder whether this man is playing by the book. Or rather the right one, as he ominously pulls a musty tomb from inside his jacket. This ”˜secret medical journal’ (apparently) contains cures his family has passed down from one generation to the next. Not revealing its pages to anyone, it could just as likely contain his weekly shopping lists. This is confirmed via the next scene where we see Chris screaming in pain as the doctor pins him down and sticks needles in his torso. “He’s absolutely punishing me, but you can’t fault his kindness,” his forgiving patient deliberates. But only for so long, though ”“ the doctor’s final method, involving sticking a six inch needle close to his heart, isn’t quite convincing enough for Chris and his mum, who swiftly send him and his secret book on the next flight home. Chris does, eventually, meet a doctor in the slightly safer conditions of a hospital and undergoes an MRI scan that points to the cause of his suffering. A surgeon, wearing a hat with multicoloured smiley faces, seems confident he can perform the operation that could change Chris’s life. But, for once, it’s a source that can be trusted. You have to admire the bravery and determination of the man who has spent over two years searching for and enduring every treatment he can find to rid him of a bodily function that causes most of us no problems. But you also believe in the aspiring musician, who says, “I’m not letting the hiccups control my life ”“ my life is going to control the hiccups.” And ”“ minus the help of a Japanese doctor ”“ he just might be on his way. source :The Man Who Can’t Stop Hiccupping Review: Did You Try Having A Glass Of Water?
