I asked George to help with Dance 100 ... he sent a video of the Casualty cast dancing ... I was blown away
Brave mum battling Huntington’s disease touched as star of hit medical show backs fundraising dancethon in George Square
facing the onset of Huntington’s disease in the long-running BBC drama. Gillian and George first met during a Zoom call last year organised by Huntington’s disease charities.
Their online chat so inspired George, that he invited Gillian to visit the Casualty set last summer to meet the cast and take part in filming as an extra. For Casualty superfan Gillian, it was a dream come true.
“I started nursing around the time Casualty began and I’ve always watched it,” Gillian told the PDE.
“Visiting the set was one of the best experiences of my life. George came in on his day off and introduced me to the cast, showed me round then stayed to watch the scenes being filmed with me as an extra. It was amazing.
“His character’s storyline is raising so much awareness about Huntington’s disease and the impact that it has on individuals and families, and George does even more outside of filming to raise awareness since becoming Patron of Huntington’s Disease Association England and Wales, too.
“When it came round to organising Dance 100, I got in touch to see if George could help promote the event – and he sent back an amazing video of the cast dancing to the Casualty theme tune. Since then he’s also spoken about Dance 100 on BBC1 Morning Live.
“I didn’t know he was talking about me and showing my photo in Casualty scrubs until my friends all started texting to say I was on the telly. I was blown away.”
Gillian has become one of the leading voices in Scotland’s
Huntington’s disease community, raising awareness about the disease by giving talks to community groups, health professionals and social care practitioners, volunteering as a trustee on the charity’s board, and fundraising. So far she has raised more than £20,000 for the charity through daredevil stunts like skydiving and wing walking – and she hopes Dance 100 will boost that total.
“Dancing has always been important to me and my daughters. We dance to celebrate the good times and we dance to lift