Brickie Scott's joy at overcoming fear of heights
Dedicated apprentice brickie Scott Jordan is on the ladder to success after overcoming a major obstacle to anyone in his line of work – a fear of heights.
Budding builder Scott, from Clee Hill, found he got the shakes whenever he got to so much as the first floor of a building.
The 19-year-old's fear prompted his bosses at Cleobury Mortimer-based Cornbrook Construction to help and they called in a phobia expert to ensure Scott did not have to stay with his feet on the ground.
As a result, Scott can now work at height on building sites and fears of an end to his career before it had barely begun have vanished.
He is currently part of the Cornbrook team building a new four-bedroom house in Edgmond, near Newport.
Scott said: "I have always been worried about heights. I thought it was just a natural reaction which I would quickly overcome when I had the opportunity through Cornbrook Construction to train to be a bricklayer.
"But I found that every time I had to go up a ladder I got quite apprehensive. I took longer to get up to where I had to work than my workmates and longer to get down. The anxious feeling didn't go away.
"My workmates were very understanding. But I found myself trying to make sure I only worked on the ground. I thought I might have to look for another job."
Cornbrook's MD Matt Breakwell said: "Scott has been doing well in his apprenticeship so we were keen to help him. It's important to take due care when working at height but it can be counter-productive to be over-cautious. You definitely need a head for heights in the building industry."
Mr Breakwell knew phobia expert Helen Leathers because they were in the same Thomas Telford business networking group in Telford so he asked her if she could help Scott.
The therapist, from Church Stretton, used a technique called Thought Field Therapy to help Scott overcome his anxiety.
The method included getting him to think about his fear of heights while tapping himself gently on different parts of his upper body.
Scott said: "It's amazing. I'm still cautious as you should be but that bad feeling in my stomach has gone and I don't mind working at height at all. It's a great relief."
