JO’S CAMPAIGN FOR JABS

IN FEBRUARY 2021, JO REVEALED THAT HER SISTER, FRANCES, HAD YET TO BE VACCINATED AGAINST COVID. FRANCES HAS CRI DU CHAT SYNDROME, A RARE GENETIC CONDITION. “IT’S DRIVING ME ABSOLUTELY CRAZY,” JO TOLD Country Living AT THE TIME. “IT’S SO FRUSTRATING. SO MANY EMAILS HAVE GONE BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS TO THE SURGERY. WE’RE JUST UNLUCKY.” UNLUCKY DOESN’T COVER WHAT CAME NEXT. DAYS LATER, FRANCES TESTED POSITIVE. HER BREATHING DETERIORATED. IT WAS, JO SAID, “THE WORST WEEK OF OUR LIVES”. BY THE END OF THE MONTH, THE WORST WAS OVER. FRANCES HAD RETURNED HOME FROM HOSPITAL AND JO HAD ATTRACTED SO MUCH ATTENTION BY HIGHLIGHTING THE VULNERABILITY OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES THAT THE NHS PRIORITISED THEIR JABS. THE BBC

DUBBED IT “THE JO WHILEY EFFECT”.