Without our lockdown heroes where would we be?
Kym Marsh tells MARION McMULLEN lockdown heroes deserve to be celebrated at the Pride of Britain awards
KYM MARSH knows only too well the heartbreak coronavirus can cause to families after her beloved Uncle George passed away after falling ill with the devastating virus.
“He had been a little bit unwell prior to going into a care home and then he had an accident and ended up in hospital and ended up with coronavirus,” says Kym.
“We don’t know where he picked it up, but he was just too weak to come through all that.
“It has been so hard and for my cousins it has been devastating because they couldn’t be with him to say goodbye. They couldn’t see him during lockdown, when he was in the care home or in hospital. They recorded videos for him, and so did my mum and dad, and asked the nurses at the end of his life to play him the videos as much as possible so he would at least be able to hear their voices.
“It has been so tough for them and it won’t be possible to have a normal funeral. My cousins have been told they might not even be able to carry his coffin. It’s so difficult and I think it takes longer to come to terms with the loss and the grief during all this.”
The former Coronation Street star says many families across the country have paid the high personal cost of coronavirus, but there have also been inspiring tales of ordinary people going the extra mile to help others and she hopes the lockdown heroes will be remembered at this year’s Pride of Britain Awards, of which she is a long-term ambassador.
Kym, who has been the host of the regional Pride of Britain awards for several years, says: “Awful things have been happening, but then you hear these amazing stories of NHS staff and key workers and people just going out and doing things for other people. They are the new heroes.
“During the lockdown, charities have been struggling and people having been coming up with ways to help them raise money. They are not doing it for money or recognition. They are doing it to help.
“Without them where would we be? People have been going out trying to find ways to fund raise and it is just wonderful to see. It restores your faith in humanity.”
Kym is currently hosting the BBC’s new daytime consumer rights programme Your Money and Your Life with Matt Allwright and says it is strange getting back to work again.
“My son David is 25 and still lives at home and his girlfriend also decided to spend lockdown with us and we all decided to grow sunflowers to help my young daughter Polly with home schooling.” She laughs: “David has been very concerned about his sunflowers and has turned into this gardener talking to them and stuff. We’ve been teasing him saying ‘It’s not cool, man’. “My daughter moved into her first home just before lockdown with her son and it has been hard not seeing them; especially when he had his first birthday during lockdown, but she is such an amazing mum.
“I think what you miss most is just being able to be with your family.” Kym, who celebrated her 44th birthday at the weekend, says the Pride of Britain awards also make her appreciate the amazing people all around and she has often delivered the invitations to the unsuspecting heroes in person, including seven-year-old Pride of Manchester Child of Courage winner Anya Ottley last year.
Anya needed treatment for a rare form of kidney cancer and then helped raise nearly £20,000 for the Little Princess Trust and Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital. “I surprised Anya at school when she was in a drama class and I still follow Charlie Fogarty (another winner) on Instagram,” she says. “He is just so inspiring when you think of all the things this guy has gone through.” Charlie, a footballer, tours the country giving speeches about recovering from a car accident, which left him in a coma for four months and Kym says: “He’s been very poorly and has had a collapsed lung during this time as well, but his sheer determination shines through.”
Kym says the awards themselves can be an emotional rollercoaster.
“I always try to hold it together on the night and you have to find a balance, but it is difficult,” she admits. Nominations are now open for this year’s awards. Categories include Child/ Teenager of Courage, Outstanding Bravery, Lifetime Achievement, TSB Community Partner Award, ITV Fundraiser of the Year, This Morning Emergency Services Award, Good Morning Britain Young Fundraiser of The Year and a Special Recognition Award.
■ The Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards, in partnership with TSB, will take place later this year. Nominations close on August 28 and you can nominate online at prideofbritain.com/ nominate