30/10/2017 Inside Out Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

Good evening.

This week: The soldier

having a vital operation

to help him walk unaided.

And the research project

here in Bradford helping to improve

the health of future generations.

Hello, I'm Keeley Donovan and this

week we are in Bradford.

Coming up on the programme: Helping

a hero - we have the exclusive story

of the spinal operation that

could be vital for soldier

and amputee Ben Parkinson.

You'll be all right, don't worry,

you're in good hands.

Also tonight: The Bradford tower

block which could pose a fire risk

to people living there.

Obviously, you want to

know that you're safe.

It's like when you go to bed

at night, you want to know that

you'regoing to be waking up

in the morning.

And later in the programme: Meet

the twins whose lives have been

studied since they were born.

You might remember soldier

Ben Parkinson, who fought back

from devastating injuries

after an explosion in Afghanistan.

Ben, who's from Doncaster,

lost both of his legs,

broke his back and suffered

a brain injury.

Now he's had another major operation

to straighten his spine and help him

achieve his dream of walking again.

I should warn you that

Emma Glasbey's report has some

images of the surgery.

Bye-bye,sweetheart.

Ben Parkinson is heading for

the operating theatre once again.

He s about to undergo major

surgery on his back that

could help him achieve his dream

of walking unaided.

How are you feeling

about the operation?

Excited.

It s been over ten years I ve

been waiting for it,

so now I can t wait.

The aim of the operation

is to straighten his spine

so he can balance better

on his prosthetic legs.

You ll be all right, don t worry.

You re in good hands.

Far more nervous than he is.

He s cool as a cucumber,

we re in bits.

In 2006, paratrooper Ben Parkinson

was serving in Afghanistan

when he suffered massive injuries

in a landmine explosion.

Both his legs were amputated,

he fractured his pelvis,

broke his back and suffered a major

brain injury that

affected his speech.

Doctors did not think

he would survive.

Ben was told he would never

walk or talk again.

But in the 11 years since that

explosion, Ben has fought back,

determined to defy medical opinion

and make the remarkable recovery

no one was expecting.

Over the last couple of years,

Ben has been getting frustrated

because he s been struggling

to balance on his prosthetic legs.

Keep your shoulder up.

He had surgery in 2009 to install

rods and screws in his back,

but now Ben s spine has curved

at the bottom and his body

is pulling him sideways.

If you look from behind,

you can see that this side

of his pelvis is much further

from his shoulder than this one.

It's actually hoiked

across like that.

He can't get his weight

on to this side of his pelvis.

We think that Ben is not

going to progress much more

than this unless he s got his back

straightened, so that he can

actually shift his centre of gravity

from one side to the other.

The curve in Ben s spine has not

only affected his walking.

For the first time in years,

Ben has been complaining

It's uncomfortable and it's

making him sort of quite

unhappy and quite worried.

So this operation

is hugely important?

Yes, everything to Ben.

There are good medical reasons why

it's got to be done, but for Ben,

it's all about the walking.

Ben s ultimate goal is to walk

without crutches, but he also needs

to feel more balanced and secure

on his legs.

So how has the walking been going?

My walking is going a lot,

lot better but I need this

operation to progress.

So you're confident this is going

to make a big difference to you?

I am, yeah.

I don t know how big yet,

but it will definitely make

a difference in some way.

It s Monday morning - operation day.

Despite the fact he s

about to undergo major surgery,

Ben is feeling happy and relaxed.

Never mind nerves, Ben s only

complaint is about the hospital

compression stockings.

I want to show you this.

Not much use.

Are you disappointed

you don t get to wear them?

I m very disappointed, yes.

Hello, Ben.

Nice to see you again, welcome.

The operation is taking place

in Preston because the hospital

is also home to the specialist

Mobility Rehabilitation Centre.

It means afterwards Ben s legs

can be adapted to work

with his straighter spine.

We ve got a whole team assembled

downstairs in theatre.

We ve got somebody

monitoring your spinal cord.

Then we ve got the anaesthetic

machine and the X-ray

team all there, as well.

Eight years ago Ben had

surgery to install screws

and two rods in his back

following his spinal fracture.

Now his spine has curved

below these rods.

The surgeons plan to put more screws

in at the bottom of Ben s

back and then add length

to the original rods.

They ll use the new screws to help

to the original rods.

Roll right in.

Get as near as you can.

For Ben, it s the day

he s been waiting for.

The day he ll, hopefully,

move that much closer

to walking tall securely.

But for Ben s family,

it s yet another day

anxiously waiting for news

from the operating theatre.

Bye.

I don t think it can

ever get any easier.

I don t think.

No matter how old your kids are,

you never think that this

is what you re going to be doing.

See you later on.

You ll be right.

I m glad it s here.

I m just apprehensive now.

I just want it to be over and we ll

With Ben now under general

anaesthetic, the two surgeons make

sure everything is in place.

OK, all good?

Good to go?

This operation is likely

to take somewhere between

four and six hours.

It all depends on how many

new screws need attaching

to the original one s

in Ben s spine.

The surgeons won t know that

until this operation

is a little further along.

One of the first tasks will be

to find the original rods

and screws in Ben s back.

We ve found the spine

which is a good start.

We ve got down to the old

instrumentation, which is great.

Do you know yet how many

new screws are going in?

I think we re going for six.

Yeah, we ll see how

Good, right what size

have we got here?

That s a 50.

Once the screws are in place,

it s time for the new rods to be

aligned with the original one s

in Ben s back.

It s a difficult procedure

and I should warn you now that

cutting the metal rods is not

a delicate task.

Ready?

Yeah, well done.

With the new screws and rods

successfully in, the surgeons can

get to work straightening

Ben s spine.

So we ve got hold of his spine below

and we ve got hold of his spine

above and we re just stretching out

the inside of the curve.

X-rays are then carried out

the inside of the curve.

in the right place and see how much

of the curve they ve

managed to straighten out.

So far, it s looking pretty good.

It s looking fairly well balanced.

We re very happy with the X-rays

and how it all looks.

And you must be feeling

pretty tired now?

Getting that way.

I ll be looking forward

to a cup of tea.

With the operation

successfully completed,

Ben will now spend the night

on the Critical Care Unit here.

Hopefully, tomorrow he ll be moved

on to a ward where he ll be able

to continue his recovery.

Easy does it.

That's excellent.

Two weeks on, and Ben is already

back at home and working

to regain his strength.

That starts to pull a bit, does it?

Physiotherapy is now key

for his ongoing recovery.

It will take a while for us to get

the muscles stretched again

so that he's got symmetry,

but once he's got symmetry back,

then we'll be laughing,

I'm sure of it, yeah.

For Ben's family, after the worry

and nerves about the surgery,

it is now a chance to look forward

to the improvement they hope it

will bring to his life.

There probably are other

operations that this will lead

on to, but one at a time.

The next one won't be as scary,

but this one was a scary one

and we are glad it's over and we're

fairly sure that it's

an absolute 100% success.

Good.

I'm happy.

Very, very, very good.

For Ben, that dream

of walking unaided once again

is a huge step closer.

And if you've got a story

you would like to tell us

about, you can contact us

on Facebook or Twitter.

Coming up on the programme:

The children whose lives are being

studied to help future generations.

A fire safety expert claims that

a block of flats in Bradford

could be a risk to life.

Summer Berry Residences,

which you can see behind me here,

is an eight story block which houses

private tenants and people placed

there by Bradford Council too.

I've been investigating.

This is the story of

an international investment

opportunity which was just too good

to be true.

It s also the story of high-rise,

low-rental apartments that

could have potential fire risks.

We say that this building is unsafe

for human habitation.

Obviously, you want to

know that you're safe.

It's like when you go to bed

at night, you want to know that

you're going to be waking

up the morning.

These are Summer Berry

Residences in Bradford.

They used to be offices.

Then they were converted into more

than 200 low-rent flats

in an eight-storey tower block.

Some apartments are occupied

by tenants placed here

by Bradford Council,

and some by tenants

with private landlords.

Apartments at Summer Berry are being

sold for as little as £5,000.

Sounds cheap, doesn t it?

But our investigation

shows they might not be

as good as they look.

Hong Kong, on the other

side of the world.

Investors have lost money buying

leaseholds at Summer Berry,

and they ve been left

with apartments which are run down

and could need costly repairs.

This glossy promotional film

was made by one of the same

companies involved at Summer Berry,

aimed at the same

Far East investors.

In Hong Kong, Yorkshire-based

property lawyer Martin Scott has

been hired by investors who say

they lost money.

TRANSLATION: My friend saw

an advertisement saying

we could get a 40% discount.

I hope we recover our losses.

TRANSLATION: We thought the British

legal system was perfect

because we have the similar good

legal system in Hong Kong.

So all the buyers didn t expect

there would be any problems.

There are some unusual

aspects to these flats.

On the lower and ground floor

behind me, 35 spaces were sold off

without any detailed plans.

But planning permission

was never obtained and

the work never happened.

They ve effectively bought a title

number, which is registered

in the Land Registry as a leasehold

title, but the title

doesn t represent an actual

property ? it s thin air.

So they ve bought thin air?

Yes, they ve bought thin air.

In February this year,

on behalf of Hong Kong leaseholders,

a detailed report was carried out

by a building management company.

It said the building had defects

relating to life safety and public

health and needed nearly

£9 million repair work.

We commissioned surveyors to carry

out a root and branch review

of the building and found,

to our horror, it was unsafe.

After the tragedy at Grenfell Tower,

how well protected are people

in low-rent housing?

Martin Scott believes

it s a widespread issue.

As Grenfell demonstrates,

the problem with building

regulations are widespread.

This is just one of a number,

I suspect, of accommodations that

have been built for students

and other residents

which are substantially substandard.

We decided to find out more,

so we tried to rent an apartment.

We were surprised at what we found.

Our researcher went to a rental

agency in Bradford,

Citywide Lettings, asking to see

a flat at Summer Berry.

She was shown an apartment,

and took a three-month

rental for £300 a month.

She was given no information

by the letting agency

or in the apartment

about fire safety.

This is the room, Keeley.

So, this is it?

Yeah.

It's not very big.

I thought it was going

to be an apartment.

It's filthy.

It is, yeah.

I suppose at least

you've got a window.

Have a look, you'll be

in for a surprise here.

Oh!

Not the greatest

outside space, is it?

No.

We paid in advance,

without giving a full name,

an accurate address,

details of employment,

or reference, or any confirmation

that our researcher was entitled

to live in the UK.

It was very, very easy

to get this room.

I could basically be anybody.

Well, you have, you've

made somebody up here.

Yeah.

Other than your first name, this

is made up information, isn't it?

Yeah.

So you are totally

under the radar here.

I know after Grenfell,

they weren't able to identify some

of the people in the block of flats

and they wouldn't be able

to tell who you were,

where you came from.

At the end of August,

we asked an independent fire safety

expert to take a look round and make

a limited inspection.

There are lots and lots of fire

escape signs, directional signs

which are required to help people

escape, but a lot of them

are quite confusing.

Sometimes they lead back on each

other and sometimes I can come out

of a room and not have

any directional sign.

To take the worst case scenario,

escaping in the middle of the night

when the powers gone would have

given me grave concerns.

In the corridor, Tony looks

above the ceiling panels

and doesn t like what he finds.

We find compromises and breaches

in the compartmentation

where we have mains 240 volt cables

running from one compartment into

another which are not fire-stopped.

In this case, a hole has been

knocked in the wall.

The cable s been led

through and left.

The key thing is the protected route

because that s where everyone comes

to as a conversion point

to leave the building.

That s our common route.

That is the thing that has to be

30 minutes protection.

Tony found fire extinguishers

with out of date inspection labels,

and extinguishers that would be

difficult to use in a fire.

He also found fire doors

which were incorrectly fitted,

including one which would jam

when fully opened.

From what he s seen,

Tony believes there could be a risk

to life if a fire broke out

in the building.

I would have great concerns that

escaping from the fifth

and sixth floors upwards,

even those lower floors,

would be quite difficult

in some circumstances.

From a risk assessment

point of view, there

are certainly some work,

I believe, that needs to be done.

Would you feel

comfortable living here?

I would have concerns.

There are supposed to be fire alarm

tests here every Monday at 11.00am.

We monitored them over a seven-week

period and there was only one.

But what do the residents think?

I decided to find out.

Oh, they're horrible.

They are, they're horrible.

Do you feel unsafe living here?

I do, yeah.

I don't want to live

here, to be honest.

You live here because it's

a cheap place to live?

Yeah.

The only time they ever bother

you is when you owe them money.

That's the only time

they care about you.

Do you rent this privately?

No, I'm on benefits.

So the council have placed you here?

Yeah, yeah.

That makes you want to move on,

but it's just finding somewhere

to move to isn't always

as easy as that.

So they've got you over

a barrel a bit, really?

Pretty much.

Who s making sure these

apartments are safe?

This is where it gets complicated.

A string of companies have been

linked to Summer Berry.

One of them has gone

into liquidation.

Three months ago, the freehold

of the building passed

from a Jersey-based company,

CFIF Nominee Ltd, to another company

in London with a similar name,

CFIF Holding (No 1) Ltd.

This company told us that

a fire risk assessment had

been carried out in July

and the West Yorkshire Fire Service

were happy with the fire safety

management and fire safety

maintenance programme

of the building.

No issues relating to breaches

of compartmentation or ambiguous

signage on escape routes

had been identified.

Despite Inside Out s

evidence to the contrary,

the company said fire tests had,

in fact, been carried out

every Monday at 11.00am

and logs were kept.

What about the letting agency

which needed so few details before

renting an apartment to one

of our researchers?

Citywide Lettings told us

there appeared to have been

a failure by a member of staff

and their internal procedures

had been tightened.

They ve now decided not to market

any properties at Summer Berry.

Most importantly of all,

what about the safety of tenants,

55 of them placed here by

Bradford Council?

Bradford Council and West Yorkshire

Fire Service said in a joint

statement they d made three site

visits since June and found no

evidence for taking enforcement

action, to prohibit the building s

use or to launch a prosecution.

They said this was subject to review

and reconsideration and any

new concerns should be passed

to them immediately.

They said they would continue to

monitor conditions at Summer Berry.

Their most recent visit

was on 20th September,

three weeks after we filmed

possible fire risks.

So despite our expert s concerns,

Summer Berry is classed

as officially safe, but would you be

happy living there?

This is what happened four days ago.

Tenants filmed this on the sixth

floor last Thursday when they say

a pan containing oil overheated.

Residents don t want to appear

alarms went off and it took ten

minutes for security staff

from the ground floor to get there.

The building's management company

says the sixth floor smoke detector

had been deliberately damaged

before the incident.

We re passing our findings

to the council and the Fire Service.

Let s hope, after Grenfell,

all tenants continue to be fully

protected from the risk of fire.

For the past ten years,

a huge research project called Born

in Bradford has been studying

the lives of thousands of children

across the city with the aim

of improving health and prospects

for future generations, including

these lovely ten-year-old twins.

It s an annual ritual.

Best dresses, hair in ribbons.

Twins Ruby and Rayya have been

having their photo taken once a year

ever since they were babies.

But this is more than a snapshot.

It s just one of the ways

in which throughout their lives

the girls have been recorded

and monitored by scientists.

Ten years ago, researchers recruited

13,500 Bradford infants

to help build a picture

of the city s health.

Ruby and Rayya s mum signed up

because of their older sister.

I was approached when I was pregnant

with the twins and they explained

that it was about childhood

illnesses and because I've got

Amelia, who has a rare

genetic condition, I felt

like it was the right thing to do.

One more.

Brilliant!

Born in Bradford is one

of the world's biggest

medical research studies.

It set out ten years ago to study

and unpick the causes

of childhood illness.

There was plenty to go

at when they launched.

Alarmingly high infant

mortality rates.

Add to that poverty,

obesity, education problems,

that s why a group of scientists

decided to turn medical detectives,

collect information at birth,

and study it alongside health

records.

Our early life is really important.

It's a really critical window

for shaping our health as we grow

up, so it's not what happens

when you're 40 or 50,

it's what happens in pregnancy

and the first couple of years

in life that's so important to us.

Their first investigations

concentrated on Bradford.

They covered things like diabetes,

the effects of cousin marriage

and lifestyles in pregnancy,

but then others spotted that Born

in Bradford was a rich

source of information.

As the reputation of the study grew,

we got more and more national and,

ultimately, international interest

about the data that

we were collecting.

Our work on air pollution

that we did with some

of our European colleagues has

really driven the agenda

against diesel cars.

Our work on diet, chemicals

in the diet, has led

to legal changes in the US,

as well as all the local

stuff that we are doing

to try and improve things.

A lot s happened in

Bradford in ten years.

They ve built this city park,

Bradford City have been to Wembley

and a hole in the ground became

a shopping centre.

There have been a lot of changes

in the children s lives too.

Which is why Born in Bradford

is doing another round

of evidence gathering.

For the next two years,

this mobile research centre will be

stationed around the city.

And then put your feet right back.

And the thousands of children

will be called in to be weighed,

measured and scanned.

Today, its Ruby and Rayya s turn.

Themed idea is that...

The idea is that all this

information we collect will be

a really valuable resource

for researchers in the future,

so really this is a chance to think

about collecting anything

and everything we can that we think

is going to be important.

Good girl.

Are you going to press on there?

It's all done now!

So how was it, girls?

It was really fun and that is where

we got the pinpricks.

Yeah.

And it was fun having

the scanning things.

What do you think is going to happen

to all the information?

Probably going to go

to the whole wide world.

The whole wide world!

This is one of the research projects

that might use their information.

One of the things that we find is

that the number of children have

difficulty with fine motor skills

and the impact of this unknown life

is quite profound.

Try and stay

within box.

The research is tested

temp three children when they

started school and again when they

became the age of eight.

We have

this amazing database. What it

allows us to do is understand what

sort of factors early on in life

ultimately determine a child's

outcome.

They will watch either

children develop. This is where the

ten-year-old's information will come

in.

Hi, guys? Have you had a go on

this yet?

To give the children a bit

more help, they are also using

robotics.

Does anybody want to have

a go at this? This system can't

divide gentle forces that will help

people learn.

These Bradford

children are some of the first in

the country to practice handwriting

with virtual reality robotic pens.

It looks like you are in a different

world, that you're standing in a

normal position.

It felt like you

were really right writing on paper.

There is lots of evidence that

children who are less active become

less physically healthy but also are

at higher risk of mental health

problems. Motor skill problems start

to impact on educational attainment.

The research project to grow over

the last ten years. Sadly, so the

problem is that the scientist ever

to tackle.

The children being born

in this hospital today faced the

same if not greater risks than they

did when we started. Childhood

obesity, childhood diabetes. Studies

like Born in Bradford around the

world, New Zealand, the states, in

Europe, were spending too much time

describing the problem rather than

tackling the issues.

That is why a

Born in Bradford got involved in

activities like this. Better start

Bradford run a variety of groups

with the common aim, to improve the

health of small children and their

parents and some of the most

deprived parts of the city,

developed with the help of Born in

Bradford.

I just going to read book.

A lot of the information that they

have helped us to understand the

needs in our area. It gave us some

really useful information for how to

set the programmable.

Born in

Bradford are now recruiting 5,000

children who have taken part in

better start groups, and that's what

unique about this, do not just being

observed. Born in Bradford will

measure what effect attending the

activities has on the children's

development.

Knowing words like

start and finish...

Star! It is the

world's first experimental birth

group study.

There was a

questionnaire that we filled in, one

of the half hours it took! It is a

very valuable piece of work. Anyway

I can help, research point of view,

I will.

There is a science Festival

in Bradford's city park, chants for

the Born in Bradford team to meet

their participants.

We have 30,000

people involved in border Bradford.

I am really keen to grow the next

generation of scientists. I'm

colouring a picture of science. The

most scientific thing about it is

that it goes on to the back.

A

horrible disease called diabetes of

lots of people are getting it

because we are eating far too much

of this stuff, and drinking too much

of this stuff.

When we can start

seeing what we can to do to improve

the health of the whole city, for me

this is the most exciting place you

can be in the world right now to do

science.

Another set of twins in for

photo session. This isn't for a

medical reason, if the keep a visual

record of each year the study.

We

started with four in the first year,

no we between 50 and 60 pairs of

twins every year. The longer we do

it, though, the more interesting the

pictures become.

The scientists

agree. Some of the most powerful

science from the study will come

when the children of today are in

their 60s or 70s. It is a lifetime

commitment. You have to be in it for

the long game.

That is all from here in Bradford,

but make sure you join us next week

when we examine claims that there

were delays in the emergency

services response after the

Manchester Arena bombing. And I join

the local trades people coming

together to help disabled couple.