The Show Must Go On
Bob Cooper of Macclesfield, Cheshire remembers:
Most of us have jobs where you can take time off to recover from an illness. There is usually a work colleague who can take over. If you are self-employed like me, being a one-man business as a video cameraman has had many drawbacks.
Returning from a holiday in Thailand one year, I had a wedding to film the next day. With the time difference I suffered severe jet lag and nodded off while the bride and groom were enjoying their wedding breakfast. Luckily, the toast master, who I knew well, managed to prod me awake in time to film the speeches so they were none the wiser. I decided after that I would never book a wedding straight after a holiday.
Every so often, on a filming day, I would wake up with a sore throat, flu or even a migraine. I had to totally ignore it and take tablets to endure the 8-10-hour day ahead of me no matter how bad I felt. Throughout the day, I had to remain as cheerful as possible, not wanting to be that “miserable video man”. One unprecedented occasion put me in the worst situation ever.
I always enjoyed working regularly at a stately home in Cheshire which also had quite a renowned golf course. One mid-summer’s day, 21 years ago, I was happily going through my usual procedure, part of which involved “interviewing” the guests on the lawn and in the bar. Suddenly, I sensed something heading towards me on my left side. Next thing I was flying down a flight of steps with my camera going in another direction. An out-of-control golf buggy had backed into me and a few other guests. I remember lying on the grass dazed as a sea of faces stared down at me. I blacked out a couple of times.
Within 10 minutes, an ambulance arrived, and I was strapped into a wheelchair and taken into the ambulance. It suddenly dawned on me what had happened, so I panicked when I realised I was only halfway through filming this important day. I was given painkillers, oxygen, had my arm bandaged and all the time I was thinking I had spoiled this wedding day. I refused to go to hospital as I thought my arm was just badly bruised. I was told they couldn’t force me, so I promised to go to A&E next morning. I was determined to complete the day.
Some guests helped manoeuvre my camera, which thankfully had remained functional, wherever I wanted it, and I continued filming off the tripod instead of my shoulder. At 10pm, I caught a taxi home and arranged to be collected next day at 8am. At A&E, I was diagnosed as having broken my left arm in two places and was put in plaster up to my shoulder for 10 weeks. In the following month, I had three more weddings to film so I “hired” two of my friend’s sons to carry my equipment around and put it where it should be.
I didn’t dare tell the couples about my accident, so I turned up at each one brushing it off as just a bruised arm which I was getting over. It would have been impossible to have arranged a replacement cameraman at short notice during summer.
Of course, being in that situation, I was unable to take on any further bookings, so my future work dried up. Fortunately, the brother of the bride whose wedding I had my accident at was a solicitor and, having seen the whole incident, he decided to take my case on. It took nearly a year, but it culminated in me receiving a sum of £12,000 compensation and a new camera worth £3,000. The hotel also paid me the fee I was owed by the wedding couple and gave me free membership of their health club. Although I was always able to cope with minor ailments, I never anticipated being mown down by a golf buggy during my career.
Later, I did film two other weddings there as well as an evening with Marti Webb and Duncan Norvelle. As soon as the plaster cast was removed, I went on a two-week holiday to Ölüdeniz in Turkey. I was so glad I was able to adhere to that old showbusiness cliche: “The show must go on.”