24 Hours in A&E

Luck of the Draw (5x3)

Air date: Jan 22, 2014

This episode looks at the lottery of life through the eyes of patients and their relatives in A&E. Alyce, who's 89, is brought to King's by ambulance after falling near her home. She's accompanied by her neighbour and close friend Linda. Alyse reveals her resolve to make sure she lives long enough to celebrate her next birthday: her 90th. And as doctors run tests to rule out anything serious, Alyce talks about her childhood and about the love of her life, her husband Steve, who never called her 'Alyce', only 'Babe', and tried to pinch her bum on the stairs. Soon after, 23-year-old Sean is rushed to King's after a seizure that has lasted most of the night. He's brought to King's three to four times a year for seizures that stem from his epilepsy. When the seizure stops, Sean suggests that the latest episode has been brought on by the stress of his imminent wedding. And Sean and his fiancée Zara describe how they met and how they manage life with the ever present threat of Sean's illness. Meanwhile, 57-year-old father of one John comes to King's after suffering bouts of delirium, the result of liver disease. John may have developed Hepatitis C after experimenting with drugs when he lived in a squat 40 years ago. John is learning to live with the consequences and trying to spend as much time as he can with his son, Sean, who has a terminal brain disorder. John touchingly considers how his condition is the result of his own misadventure whereas his son is ill through no fault of his own.