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Complementary medicine pioneer Jan De Vries dies

Health guru Jan De Vries pictured at the launch of his book 'A Step at a Time' several years ago. Picture by Dessie Kennedy
Health guru Jan De Vries pictured at the launch of his book 'A Step at a Time' several years ago. Picture by Dessie Kennedy Health guru Jan De Vries pictured at the launch of his book 'A Step at a Time' several years ago. Picture by Dessie Kennedy

LEADING complementary medicine champion Jan De Vries has died following an illness.

The Dutch-born health guru died on Tuesday morning.

He lived in Scotland but had several clinics across Britain and Ireland, including one on the Lisburn Road in Belfast and another in Dublin.

A trained pharmacist, he grew up in Holland while it was under Nazi occupation during the Second World War. His parents were members of the Dutch resistance and he became involved in resistance work at a very young age.

He graduated in pharmacy in 1958 and became interested in complementary therapy following a meeting with Swiss health guru Alfred Vogel in 1960.

The following year, he opened his first complementary healthcare clinic in Holland.

His clinics offered treatments including acupuncture, physiotherapy, reflexology and hypnosis.

He will be buried in a private family funeral in Scotland.

Hundreds of clients paid tribute to him on social media last night. One woman wrote: "A very sad loss. Jan helped me so many times over the years and I could never thank him enough. Jan was an amazing man. I will miss him. My thoughts are with his family."