24 Hours in A&E continues with Love’s Sacrifice…
This episode is about the things people will give up to improve the life of a loved one.
22-year-old cyclist Athar is rushed to St George’s after a collision with a car on his way to work. Athar wasn’t wearing a helmet and ‘bullseyed’ the car’s rear window; he can’t remember anything about the crash. Doctors send him for a CT scan to assess whether he has sustained a serious head injury, as well as damage to his neck, spine or internal organs that could be life-changing.
Athar faces major surgery and a period of recovery. His cousin Musawar talks about the close bond between the two young men and the challenges Athar faced when he moved to the UK from Germany with his family.
91-year-old Peter has come to A&E after suffering a fall three nights previously while at home with his wife. As well as carrying out x-rays, medical staff test for any underlying health problems that may have caused Peter’s fall.
Peter was born in India before being sent away to a boarding school in England at the age of seven. “I was extremely happy, in a lovely house in Lahore in the Punjab with a beautiful garden and two nice Scottie dogs,” he says. “You couldn’t have a more sort of luxurious, very comfortable life.”
Peter served as a dispatch rider for the Home Guard during the war before heading back to India to work as a shipping agent where he met his wife Marlene, who he now cares for. “She can’t do very much at all, because her balance is so bad. So I’m the one that needs two feet because I have to do everything,” he says.
Meanwhile 26-year-old Emma is in hospital with mum Tracey and dad Stuart. She cut her head open after suffering an epileptic seizure. Emma also has a form of cerebral palsy called hemiplegia that leads to stroke-like symptoms. It’s the ninth time this year she’s needed treatment.
Tracey talks about how Emma’s conditions affect her and the family. “You do try and have as normal a life as possible,” she says. “It is hard, sometimes it is hard. In day-to-day life you get a protective shell…because that’s how you survive. You don’t know what’s in the future, so you try and cram as much in as you can.”