24 Hours in A&E

Live & Let Live (3x9)

Air date: Jun 04, 2013

A touching episode about people living on their own and reaching out to others. Thirty-two-year-old scaffolder Thomas has been struck on the back of the head by a six-metre pole at a building site in South London. He lost consciousness and was convulsing at the scene. Doctors are concerned he may have fractured his skull, spine or neck. Hilton has diabetes and is worried about his swollen legs. At 85, he lives on his own and looks after himself, but he's come to King's with his cousin Earl. Hilton keeps busy putting the world to rights and quipping with his cousin and Nancy, the nurse looking after him. 'I feel as young as ever, I'm quite happy,' says Hilton. 'Never married yet, I don't want nobody to have me pinned down to them. I like to be free.' Retired architect Edgar comes in after suffering an asthma attack. He's struggling to breathe, but A&E doctor Des realises that it's not just asthma that's troubling the 79-year-old. Edgar tells Des that his wife of 45 years, who was a nurse, passed away a few months earlier. He's grieving for her and has no one to turn to, so Des tries to get him some support. And in the waiting room two older women make friends, talk about their life, love and loss and exchange jokes with each other. As one of them points out philosophically, 'Laugh and the world laughs with you, cry and you sleep alone.'