THE EIGHTH SENSE? 'The Eighth Sense?' is the story of an ordinary man who has two extraordinary gifts. The first gift is of healing. He tells of the many people he has helped in lots of different ways and in a variety of places - even the middle of a road on one occasion. Although, understandably, he doesn't remember each individual case, he reckons the number must be in the region of a thousand. Several of these people have written their own accounts of what happened and these are included in this book. He doesn't claim to cure everyone's pain or that his healing always has a permanent effect but his special gifts have improved the lives of many who have received his warming touch. Nor does he claim that it is he who is the healer - he always asks the recipient to say 'thank you' to whoever or whatever they believe in and emphasises that he is just the channel for the power that heals. The second, sometimes unwelcome, gift is that he is a psychic. This side of his story relates some of his numerous encounters with spirits or ghosts and is sometimes funny, sometimes sad, sometimes scary - but always fascinating. He has encountered Tudor ghosts in Hampton Court, a young boy who drowned in a swimming pool and a suicide who tried to kill him. He had his first encounter with a spirit - a prolonged one - at seven years of age. Each gift imposes a heavy burden and Pinky has had to learn how to cope with it and shield himself from potential harmful effects, such as hostility and incredulity from family and friends, plus physical pain and mental anguish. Pinky's matter of fact approach to his more unusual encounters as a result of both of his gifts lends a charm to his story and a touch of enigma. He talks of driving with a ghost sitting beside him in the passenger seat as if this were an everyday occurrence. He does, however, think it a bit of a liberty when spirits take over his body and use him as a mouthpiece when they want to talk to someone still living. Pinky acquired his life-long nick-name from his father, who called his three sons Inky, Pinky and Ponky after the 1940s rhyme, Inky, Pinky, Ponky/ Daddy bought a donkey/ The donkey died/ And Daddy cried/ Inky, Pinky, Ponky.
