Clanabogan native sets up support group to transform lives

A FIREFIGHTER from Omagh, who is living proof that a stammer need not limit a person’s potential, is organising a fun day to allow children and young people with speech impediments to meet each other.

Pete Bradley is originally from Clanabogan, but, as a crew commander with NI Fire and Rescue Service, he now resides in Carryduff.

Pete, alongside his friend Jamie Wilson, has helped set up Belfast Stammer Support – an informal network open to people from across the North.

On Sunday, September 18, Pete and his friends are inviting children and young people affected by stammering to attend a funday at Let’s Go Hydro in Carryduff.

Many Tyrone families have already signed up.

When we spoke with Pete earlier this week he told us about; how living with a stammer has impacted his life; how it informed his decision to establish Belfast Stammer Support; and why people with stammers need to understand that, while their stutter will make some situations much more challenging, they should not allow it set the limits of their life.

“Having a stammer can be very hard but I realised that it wasn’t something which necessarily had to hold you back. It could be overcome,” began Pete.

A catalyst for this realisation came when Pete was a young man playing for Drumragh Sarfields GAC. It was at Drumragh that Pete fell under the tutelage of a highly-respected coach, Paddy Gallagher.

“Paddy took us for years and he had a stammer,” said Pete. “But what gave me great encouragement and confidence was this; if there was something that needed to be said, Paddy was going to say it.

“People listened when Paddy spoke,” said Pete.

Unfortunately, Paddy recently passed away, but his legacy – one which he may have had no inkling he was leaving – lives on in Pete.

“A few years ago, I did a video with BBC describing the daily struggles that come with having a stammer.”

The video was hugely popular. Before long, Pete was doing things that once would have terrified him.

“I started giving talks to kids in schools,” said Pete. “This was something that previously would have been a more terrifying prospect that entering a burning building filled with tanks of gas.”

Then, a couple of years ago, Pete was contacted by a young boy and his mother.

“Finn and his mother reached out to me and said that they saw my BBC video and that Finn would like to meet me.

“He came down to the fire station where I work and I showed him around. I remember he said, “You are the first person I’ve ever met who is like me.”

This struck a deep chord with Pete and crystallised something had known for a long time: That meeting another person who shares a stammer can be one of the most powerful ways of transforming the way you think of your own.

“This was sort of the inspiration for setting up Belfast Stammer Support and the Fun Day,” said Pete.

“In the group we now have GPs, nurses, physios, mathematicians, lecturers and even a stage actor.

“Speech and language therapy works for some people, but others need to meet other people who have a stammer.”

If any child or young person (under 18) wants to attend the fun day in Carryduff, please register on Eventbrite by searching Belfast Stammer Support Funday @LetsGoHydro. It is free of charge and all young people must be accompanied by an adult. Be aware that the fun-filled activities will be land-based so there will be no need to bring swimming gear.

“We want to reduce that voice of doubt that many of these young people have in their head. Be you, bravely,” finished Pete.