Winters on crusade for herbal healing
July 8, 1999 - Henderson Home News

On a recent trip to Malaysia in search of medicinal herbs, Sir Jason Winters was stung on the face by a scorpion. As his eyes and nose started swelling, Winters was rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors later told him if not for his steady diet of health foods and herbs, he could have died instantly from the scorpion's venom.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT - SIR JASON WINTERS

As he tells this story, Winters is lively and genteel, as if to say, add another chapter to my life. "I should have died years ago," Winters said.

Winters, 68, is referring to the "death sentence" he received in 1977 from his physician - a cancerous tumor had wrapped around his carotid artery and attached to the wall of his jugular vein.

He was given 90 days to live. Winters said he sat on the edge of his London hospital bed and sobbed. It was then that he received a most unexpected visitor, Prince Charles."

He was there visiting a friend, and when he passed by my room, he found me crying," he said. "I was completely terrified of dying."

According to Winters, Prince Charles walked into his room, studied his chart, then placed his hand on his shoulder and said, "Don't worry Mr. Winters, only God can tell you when you will die."

After that meeting, Winters life took a new course, into the realm of integrated healing. With the help of Prince Charles and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Winters traveled the world in search of healing herbs which would eradicate the cancer stealing his life.

"I went to places like Singapore and Tibet," Winters said. "Once I got hold of these herbs [red clover, herbalene], I recovered quickly."

Winters is now the president of the World Federation of Integrated Medicine, an organization committed to promoting a sensible regimen of both herbal and Western medicines.

He spends five months out of the year in Henderson with his two sons who operate the local branch of Winters' herbal enterprise, Tri Sun International. The rest of the year he spends at his home in the Philippines when he's not on the lecture circuit.

"Part of my job is to encourage the Asian world to see their doctors, while encouraging the Western world to use more herbal medicines," said Winters adding that it is absurd people not to trust the benefit of orthodox medicine.

"Like my scorpion bite, for example," he said. "I wasn't going to wait three hours for an herbal remedy to work when the doctors could take care of it with a shot."

An earlier chapter in Winters' life, before herb hunting the forests of Borneo, had been working as a stunt man in the 1957 western "Walk the Proud Land." In that film, he worked as an extra, doing all the stunts for Jay Silverheels who played "Tonto" in the classic television series "The Lone Ranger."

His film work led Winters to test the durability of products using his skills as a stunt man. Part of this work included crossing over the Canadian Rockies in a hot air balloon, and crashing Jaguars into brick walls to see if the seat belts worked properly. As Winters can attest, they did. "Isn't that absolutely mad?" he said. For his work in the field of integrated medicine, Winters received a knighthood in Malta. Despite the high honors, Winters remains a man committed to helping others.

"We must all work together to make the world a better place for humanity," he said.

David Hare/News Staff