Cardiff and Vale UHB carpenter with Parkinson's builds positive early retirement
02 May 2025
Gareth Evans remembers the day his career began at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board. It was July 1989, and his dad dropped him off at Cardiff Royal Infirmary (CRI).
“I remember him saying to me, ‘keep your nose clean and you'll have a job for life’,” Gareth recalls. “I didn't believe him at the time, but sure enough, 34 years later, I was pensioned off.”
Gareth worked as a Maintenance Carpenter across many of the health board’s sites, including Rookwood, Lansdowne, CRI, and University Hospital of Wales.
“I just loved being on the tools and loved doing what I was doing - meeting people, helping people, and making stuff. There was nothing better.”
Gareth was also a rugby enthusiast. He turned to coaching after several knee operations stopped him playing. “That was one of my passions in life. I loved the tours, loved the banter, loved everything about sport.”
But in his mid-40s, around nine years ago, Gareth began to experience health issues.
“Things were happening, and I didn't understand it. Depression comes with Parkinson’s, and I was depressed. A lot of people don't like talking about depression, but you've got to face up to it. I'd come into work and for no reason at all I was crying. Nothing made sense.”
Another early symptom was a tendency to smell toast.
“It was strange,” he said. “I could smell that burnt smell; beautiful smell. I love it. Everybody thought I was going barmy. I thought, ‘I'll just keep quiet, just put up with it’. After a few months it kind of settled down, but I noticed my sense of smell was very poor. My consultant, Kathryn Peall, said one of the first signs is people smelling different things, and toast is common.”
Being depressed led to a five-month absence from work, which he describes as one of the lowest points of his life. His managers met him for coffee and helped him return. “They just showed compassion. And I was back in work after five months.”
Shortly after returning Gareth noticed another symptom. “I remember standing in the corridor at work and I looked down at my arm, just above the elbow. That muscle was twitching, and I started to worry about it.”
Following a GP visit and a referral to neurology, Gareth received his diagnosis. “I was diagnosed with Parkinson's on the 21st of September 2018, 3:50pm in the afternoon. I cried my eyes out. But that's the date it started getting better.”
Gareth worked for another five years, moving to an office-based Estates role fault-finding. “I had nothing but help,” he said. “Health and safety were brilliant. Everything I did, they would keep an eye on me and give me advice. My management in the Estates team were fantastic - every one of them.”
Eventually, he took the decision to take early retirement on grounds of ill health. “I looked at it and I thought, well, I’ve got grandchildren. Now is my time because I know what's coming. It was the right decision. And at the moment, I'm living life. I’m loving being retired.”
His condition has progressed, and some days are difficult. “I'm getting a lot of dystonia, dyspraxia, cramps, infection. Some days if I don't take my tablets, I can't even walk. I had a bit of a dyspraxia attack when I was walking the dog and I was stuck in the field, tipping down with rain for 40 minutes before I could relax enough to get going again. That was purely my fault because I forgot to take my tablets that morning.”
Despite these challenges, Gareth remains active. He has taken up golf and boxing through Parkinson’s charities. “It's good for me because it's exercise and big movements are good for Parkinson's. It’s swinging the ball, it’s big movements. It’s all good.”
He’s also raised significant funds for Parkinson’s charities through quizzes, marathons, and rugby matches.
“They say it's not hereditary, but I worry for my children. This is why I like to do charity, because I might not find a cure in my time. I just want to make sure they find a cure for the kids in future. Because anybody can get it.”
On Sunday, May 4, Gareth will undergo his latest fundraising effort: a sponsored head shave and wax at a fun day at the Malsters Arms in Whitchurch. Ahead of the event he has already raised £3,000. He said: “We're hoping to raise a lot of money and it's the easiest thing I've ever had to do - just sit there and let somebody shave my head. People ask, ‘don’t you worry about looking stupid?’ But I’ve looked stupid for a long time. I walk around with a shake, and I tremor sometimes. So, it doesn't bother me!”
Approximately 8,300 people in Wales currently live with Parkinson’s, a progressive neurological condition that results from insufficient dopamine in the brain. With both motor symptoms like tremor, stiffness, slowness of movement and less commonly recognised non-motor symptoms such as sleep disturbances, memory problems, constipation amongst others, effective management of Parkinson's requires a collaborative approach from a range of healthcare professionals to help people manage the condition.
The Parkinson’s Service within Cardiff and Vale UHB includes not just consultants and nurse specialists, but also dieticians, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and a psychology team, consisting of a clinical psychologist, assistant psychologist and a trainee psychologist, working together to provide personalised holistic care. Read more about the Parkinson's Service here.