TV vet Professor Noel Fitzpatrick opens up on childhood abuse: ‘Animals became my best friends because I didn’t trust humans’-Meghna Amin-Entertainment – Metro

TV vet Professor Noel Fitzpatrick has heartbreakingly opened up about suffering abuse as a child.

The 54-year-old has appeared on shows including The Bionic Vet and The Supervet, and has performed record-breaking surgeries on pets.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast today, Professor Fitzpatrick opened up about losing trust in humans.

‘I sustained prolonged sexual abuse as a child,’ he began.

‘I had been running from that specter all my life, and I had met a few other people in a similar situation.’

He continued: ‘Having met those people and seen the consequences of that, and having identified within myself a darkness that I have sublimated for 40 years, animals became my best friends because I didn’t trust humans.

Professor Fitzpatrick heartbreakingly shared the abuse he faced from his childhood (Picture: BBC)

The 54-year-old has appeared on shows including The Bionic Vet and The Supervet (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

‘So I felt very strongly that if I could not be truthful and honest and have integrity and honesty about that thing that I could never speak about, coming from a very religious background in Ireland, into the wonderment of the United Kingdom, of being able to achieve my dreams, and everybody thinking you have it all sorted out.

‘If you say, “Look, I do not have it all sorted out, I’m just trying to do my best, we all have some issues we need to cope with, we’re in it together, and I will hold your hand or I will hold your paw.”

‘In that holding there is a comfort, so that’s why I told the story and that’s why I’ve chosen to be raw, because I think that it is only throughout vulnerability that we can possibly achieve our strength.’

The vet spoke about turning to animals after losing trust in humans (Picture: REX/Shutterstock)

Last year, Professor Fitzpatrick shared his devastation over losing his ‘beloved companion’ Keira, saying he visits the dogs grave every single day.

He shared: ‘I cry every time I see her, her little grave is outside my window at work and I just left work this morning to come into the studio.

‘I said goodbye to her whenever I leave, and I say hello to her multiple times a day,’ he told Lorraine Kelly on her daytime show.

The vet explained he’d decided to dedicate his new book to his late pet due to her ‘unconditional love’, which is also the subject of the book.

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He continued: ‘It’s a thing you can’t explain, it’s one of those things that connect us in a sense of oneness, where we feel we belong in the moment. She was my confidante; she was my best friend for 14 years.

‘No matter how sad I was, she made me happy, no matter how sweaty I was, she wiped it better… she liked me smelly, so she was the best possible friend.’

BBC Breakfast airs weekdays from 6am on BBC One.

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