EasyJet holidays director shares Parkinson’s diagnosis to support others

EasyJet holidays chief operating officer Matt Callaghan has said he hopes sharing his diagnosis of young onset Parkinson’s disease will encourage people to show greater kindness to others.

Callaghan, who spoke to Travel Weekly editor-in-chief Lucy Huxley in a webcast interview, published a LinkedIn post last month, a year after his diagnosis, in which he highlighted that people are often managing invisible challenges.

He told Travel Weekly: “There are so many people who have got challenges or conditions that are invisible to most of us, but that they’re carrying heavily.”

He added: “If we could all just take some micro-steps to show a greater degree of understanding and kindness and empathy to just one person, that might be the difference that person really would need and value.”

Callaghan, who was 40 when told of his condition, said the diagnosis came as a “huge shock”.

“For me, Parkinson’s disease didn’t affect people like me; it didn’t affect younger people,” he added.

He first sought medical advice after his young daughter made a comment while they were sitting together on the sofa in January last year. “My daughter just said to me, ‘Daddy, are you cold? Because you’re shivering’,” he said.

“She could feel a tremor in my arm, which, after a few different medical appointments, resulted in me being diagnosed at the end of March 2025.”

He felt like his “whole world then changed”, but found some comfort in the consultant’s advice that he should “think about things in decades, not in years”.

After processing his condition with family, he decided he should speak about it publicly on the anniversary of his diagnosis.

“I thought the greater good here has got to be to share my experiences, because people want leaders to be human and to recognise we’ve all got things going on in our lives, and there isn’t this persona that leaders have to be ultra-resilient and always in control,” he said.

He added: “I guarantee there will be someone in everyone’s team who is carrying something day in, day out that the rest of the team aren’t aware of.”

Callaghan said his diagnosis has helped him identify what is important, noting the travel industry and his career remain as key as ever.

“My diagnosis doesn’t change who I am, it just sometimes changes how I have to do things,” he added.