Behind the Mask

This is the story of a boy from a small Irish village who became an adventurer, a humanitarian and a doctor to the stars. Part travelogue, part thriller, part celebrity tell-all, you’ve never read anything quite like it.

Patrick Treacy grew up in rural Northern Ireland during the Troubles. Determined to become a doctor, he raised the money for medical school by smuggling cars from Germany to Turkey.

Working in a hospital in Dublin in 1987, a needle he had used to draw blood from a patient with HIV jabbed him in the leg. He took blood test after blood test, wondering whether he was going to die.

Overwhelmed, he moved to New Zealand, away from everyone who knew what he was going through: his girlfriend, his friends and his colleagues. Thus he began a peripatetic existence, working as a doctor around the world.

In Saddam Hussein’s Baghdad, Treacy was arrested and imprisoned, spending days wondering whether he was going to be hanged as a spy. In Australia, he worked for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

On returning to Dublin, Treacy set up the Ailesbury Clinic, where he worked on the cutting-edge of the new field of cosmetic dermatology, championing treatments including the use of Botox. This brought stars to his doorstep, including the King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson.

Central to this memoir is Treacy’s personal journey: his efforts to escape the Troubles, cope with the fear that he might have contracted HIV (until he found out that he had not), get over his lost love and defend Michael Jackson’s legacy.