Love is in the air on ’24 Hours in A&E’
Get ready for a Wednesday night full of romance as series nine, episode two features patients who fell in love with their partners at first sight.
93-year-old war veteran Henry is rushed to St. George’s with severe breathing difficulties. Doctors test his blood for signs of damage to his heart. Henry and his wife Audrey have been married for nearly seventy years. “We never went to bed without a kiss. That was one of his rules,” says Audrey. “He was always a gentleman.”
The couple met in Northumberland in the 1930s and married young without her parents’ permission. Henry flew in the Fleet Air Arm and fought in the Second World War. The couple went on to travel the world and have two children. But as it becomes clear that Henry has had a heart attack, Audrey has to accept that her husband won’t be around forever.
61-year-old builder Bill fell from his shed while cutting back trees in his garden. He was knocked unconscious and has pain in his right shoulder and lack of feeling in his hands.
Examining his CT scan, consultant Sunil discovers that Bill has broken his neck in three places and refers him for assessment by neurosurgeons on whether he’ll require surgery to avoid damage to his spinal cord.
Bill’s wife Alison and mother in law Barbara are on hand to cheer him up. Bill was the ex-husband of Alison’s neighbor. “Bill was gonna lay a footpath down my garden,” says Alison. “And I used to say to her ‘Cor, he’s a bit of alright’.”
Alison was getting over a difficult relationship when she met Bill and he’s helped her turn things round. “I had real low self-esteem. I used to have panic attacks,” says Alison. “Bill brought me out of that. He changed my life for the better really. I think I’ve met the right person now.”
Meanwhile pub landlord Tony badly burnt his legs when his barbecue gas cylinder exploded. He was only wearing his boxer shorts at the time and is in a lot of pain – he needs morphine as nurse practitioner Shabana cleans his wounds.
With Tony is his partner of five years, Emma. The couple met in a supermarket. “I chose to ignore him,” says Emma. “Every time I went to Asda he was there peering round the corner and sometimes when I was driving home I could see a Range Rover in my rear view mirror and it was Tony. That went on for about two years. I did like the fact that he kept chasing and didn’t give up.”