24 Hours in A&E

Duty of Care (3x11)

Air date: Jun 19, 2013

This touching episode explores the responsibility of caring for elderly relatives, while reflecting on the full, and often colourful, lives that some of the older patients at King's have led. Ninety-four-year-old Douglas is a highly decorated Second World War veteran who served in an elite commando unit. He's been brought in to A&E by his youngest daughter Sylvie because his breathing has deteriorated. Sylvie, who's an amputee, has been his full-time carer for the last 20 years. Douglas has four children, 17 grandchildren, 19 great grandchildren and a cheeky sense of humour. Another nonagenarian, Hector, has been brought in by ambulance with life-threatening problems: his airway is in danger of collapsing and his blood pressure is dangerously high. Hector is on his own and keeps asking for his grandson, Glen: his only living relative. 'He reckons that the key to long life was to live a decent life and make sure you eat your porridge,' says Glen. 'If my sons are half the man he was I'd still be happy.'