Doug King

[Parksy]

I was surprised to read in the May issue of Practical Caravan Magazine that Doug King, the Practical Caravan Technical Editor and D-I-Y guru has been very ill recently. (Practical Caravan May issue page 97)
I wondered where his magazine articles were.
It's always good to read about d-i-y- for caravans that are not brand new, and I thought that Doug may have been on holiday for a while or perhaps testing new caravans, but no such luck.
Doug has been battling cancer and receiving radiotherapy which has been going well.

Unfortunately though, Doug contracted pneumonia in mid December which struck twice, the second time just before he was due to be discharged from hospital after the first bout.
Doug is now home from the hospital following a six week stay and his lungs are still a bit weak.

It's early days yet and hopefully in time Doug will make a full recovery and be able to continue to fix the old caravans up.
He is going to have a go at towing again soon (initially with another driver present) and I'm sure that all forum members will join me in wishing Doug the very best of luck so that Mrs King and himself will soon be able to use their caravan again with the help of their motor mover.
Get well soon Doug!

 

[otherclive]

Thank you Parksy, and I wholeheartedly echo your wish for Doug to make a full recovery and to look forward to much more caravanning.

 

[Gafferbill]

........ yes I too hope Doug makes a speedy recovery.

 

[Dustydog]

Get well soon Doug. Missing your articles

 

[NigelDonnelly]

Hi Everyone

We've kept information about Doug's illness quiet as he was laid up in hospital over the Christmas period and is now battling back to fitness. I'll pass on your good wishes and I'm sure he'll be delighted to know that you are missing his articles.

Hope he doesn't ask for a pay rise!

Cheers

 

[trevor123]

Sorry to hear about your health problem, but we are all thinking of you and your family,
Good Luck. Trevor123

 

[Brum1]

It was a real pleasure to meet Doug at Stowford and view the project Elddis that he had restored I was interested in how he had fitted a new water heater.
Doug...Best wishes to you for a speedy recovery.

Brum

 

[SirRogerFFS]

Doug. Best wishes I hope you can now have speedy recovery. But take it easy.
Sir Roger

 

[KeithJ]

Yes I have always thought of Doug as a genuine caravan enthusiast, not just someone doing a job, and I certainly wish him well for a full recovery

 

[MikeClifton]

I am probably not the only one who feels like Doug is a friend. Get well soon sir!

 

[NigelDonnelly]

Dear All,

Have been talking to Doug and if his recovery continues to go well, he is hoping to get to Stowford for the Reader Rally. No promises, but I'm sure that any of you heading there, like us, would love to see him there

Fingers crossed

 

[Gafferbill]

I will second that.......I hope to see Doug there again giving us more words of Practical wisdom.

 

[HenryS]

As one who lives a couple of miles from where Doug K was raised in Comber, Northern Ireland, can I can I echo previous posts and wish him a speedy recovery. Henry.

 

[Mel]

Prayers for a full recovery.
mel

 

[DougKing]

Hello everyone,

Many thanks for your good wishes for my speedy recovery.

I am getting better by the day but still have some way to go. I saw my doctor for a check up today and although he is pleased with my progress, he wasn't prepared to give me his unqualified agreement to me towing to the Reader Rally at Stowford. He wouldn't even agree to me driving solo so I'm sorry to say that I won't be there as there's no sense in asking for an expert opinion if you're going to ignore it.

I hope you all have a great time and will be thinking of you. In the meantime, Nigel and Rob have given me enough desk work to do so you should be seeing an increase in my articles in Practical Caravan.

Regards,

Doug

 

[earlyriser]

glad you are on the mend look forward to more dougl fix its

 

[Parksy]

It's good to learn that you're on the mend Doug, take things easy until you are strong enough to take the caravan out again and in the meantime we'll look forward to reading your magazine articles .
I bet that you could write a book about your caravan adventures over the years

 

[RayS]

Good to hear you are on the mend Doug - as a bit of a DIY fixer myself I always enjoy your articles and can well appreciate the frustration you must be feeling not being able to get down under and fixing. At 77 I'm just looking forward to fixing my next mover, but they seem to get heavier all the time despite the adverts to the contrary !

Best wishes Ray

 

[DougKing]

Hello everyone,

First of all many thanks for the good wishes via the comments above which I really do appreciate. I have also received two get-well cards today sent byJean & Frank Townsend and Les & Ian Burton which have also made my day. I'm just sorry that I couldn't join you all at Stowford but am happy to report that Ihave towed the caravan to V&G - 55 miles - for a service and towed it home again.

Brenda and I are now planning our first outing on 6 June when we go to Round Planation at Mildenhall. Really looking forward to it as this is the longest time since we started caravanning when we haven't towed. So regardless of the weather we're going to enjoy ourselves!

Finally, being 95 per cent better I intend to get back to some DIY any day now!

Thanks again for your good wishes which we both very much appreciate.

Regards,

Doug

 

[Parksy]

Hi Doug
It's nice to see that you're feeling better and ready for a trip with the caravan again now that you know that you can tow ok.
Don't overdo it though, please tell Brenda that you are hereby excused aquaroll filling and toilet cassette emptying duties for your break at Mildenhall but you are permitted to undertake light washing up duties