MUM’S BATTLE MADE ME WANT TO HELP
CASUALTY ACTOR APPEALS FOR MORE VOLUNTEERS TO JOIN TRIALS AFTER FAMILY COVID TRAGEDY
CASUALTY star Jason Durr has revealed he’s volunteered to take part in a new coronavirus vaccine trial in Bristol – after his mother died of the virus.
The actor, who plays David Hyde in the BBC drama, will come to Southmead Hospital later this month to be one of hundreds of people involved in the trial for what’s known as the Janssen Ensemble 2 vaccine, being developed by pharmaceutical giants Johnson & Johnson.
Both Jason and his wife Kate, a former TV presenter and now a garden designer, are taking part in the trial, and have urged as many people as possible to sign up and take part too.
The Janssen vaccine trial is one of two currently getting started or already under way in Bristol, as the city once again leads the way in the development of a range of Covid19 vaccines.
As well as the researchers at Southmead Hospital conducting the Janssen vaccine trial, researchers at the University of Bristol are also looking for volunteers to take part in a trial for the Valneva vaccine, which is also in development.
Jason and Kate said they were spurred on by the nightmare of losing Jason’s mother Frances, who died in April.
She lived in a care home close to her son’s family home in Wiltshire, but Jason was barred from visiting her at the height of the first wave of the pandemic in April.
“She was in a care home, and it was at the worst of the care home debacle, at the time where you couldn’t go in,” said Jason.
“She’d lived there five years, and although she was suffering from dementia, she was a happy, healthy resident there.
“She went down with it, and she died three weeks later. It was the time when the care homes were struggling for PPE for themselves, and we were in a dilemma about going to see her, and then [Health Secretary] Matt Hancock said we couldn’t go in, and it was awful.
“The carers were extraordinary. They were frightened too, themselves, and doing their very best under such circumstances.”
Jason and Kate, who are now juggling home-schooling their three children in the third lockdown with Jason’s new commitments back on the set of Casualty, said they wanted to do something to help – and volunteered for the vaccine trial after seeing their local hospital ask for people to step forward, inspired by the loss of Jason’s mother.
He said: “It’s also about showing people it’s worthwhile to do, it’s
My mother was in a care home ... She went down with it, and she died three weeks later ... we were in a dilemma about going to see her ... we couldn’t go in, and it was awful Jason Durr
safe, and at the same time I want to encourage people to go out and get the vaccines that are offered to them too. It’s not a mutually exclusive thing, for me.
“I’m touched by it so therefore I want to do whatever I can in a small way to help.”
Casualty returned to TV screens at New Year with a hard-hitting special episode that dealt with the Covid pandemic and the toll it is taking on NHS staff, with a positive response on social media from real-life NHS staff for its realistic portrayal.
The drama, which used to be filmed in Bristol, is now filmed in South Wales, and the cast and crew have returned tentatively working out how to film while abiding by social distancing and Covid protocols.
“We have to be resilient,” said Jason. “We do 12-hour days and last week I spent all of it fully suited up in all the PPE, masks and so on. I’m not pretending by any means it’s anywhere near what the real thing is like for those amazing NHS staff who do this for real, but it gives you an insight into how the real people have to work.
“If Casualty can shine a light on this, then that’s good. That episode was a homage from us to them, and I would never say it’s anything like the same for us filming as it is for those working in these conditions in the NHS.
“We’re there to highlight what it’s like, and hope it’s possible to support the NHS and educate the British populace about conditions at the same time,” added the former
Heartbeat star.
Kate, who presented prime time shows on ITV before switching to work as a garden designer, said: “Our local hospital asked for volunteers, and we thought ‘why not’.
“We filled in the forms, had a chat with someone from the research team to go through our medical history and we were chosen.
“They said to us that if we know anyone else who could volunteer to ask them, so we wanted to put out an appeal because this trial and others need volunteers,” she added.
Generally, people have to be aged 18 to 55 years of age, with a healthy Body Mass Index of between 18 and 30, and willing to take part in the trial for a couple of years. People who take part are paid expenses and compensation for their time and participation.