04/07/2011 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

North. Tonight's headlines: As the North bids to be a world leader in

organ transplants, one man, who lost his wife and daughter, tells

us why he decided to donate their organs. It seems like not much of a

memory. But I've never questioned my decision. Also tonight: a cancer

patient who protested on the web over his treatment takes his fight

to the street. In his own words. A Rothbury villager turns reporter to

tell what life was like - after Raoul Moat. And caught on camera.

Puffins - as you've never seen them before And in sport - climbing

every mountain. We speak to the former rugby player who's not only

beaten a life-threatening injury but has just climbed the highest

mountain in Africa. The North's bid to become a world leader in organ

transplants has moved a step closer. The Freeman Hospital's �30 million

Institute of Transplantation will be taking its first patients by the

end of September. And for the start of our coverage of "Transplant

Week", we've had an exclusive look around the new hi-tech unit - which

of course, it's hoped, will help save more lives. Our Health

reporter Sharon Barbour is live for us tonight outside the centre.

we are outside the Freeman Hospital - where a New Transplant Hospital

has been built and is set to open in two months time. As you can tell,

it is still being built. We're going to have a sneak preview in a

moment. And we are going to hear from Amman who donated the organs

of his daughter and his wife who were tragically killed in and car

accident. But they remain you what transpired week is all about, it is

about getting more people to have one of these, at Dornoch card. -- a

donor card. Hundreds of people across the North East and Cumbria

are waiting for a vital organ - to have a future. Across the country

8,000 people are waiting. And every day three people die - waiting. Now

though - a world first - let's take an exclusive look inside the new

transplantation centre. It is a one-stop shop for transplantation.

And the only one of its kind in Great Britain. With exclusive

access, this is what it looks like. A �30 million centre of excellence

- designed to save lives. There are four large operating theatres, a

30-bed ward. A critical care unit with 22 beds. The state of the art

unit here has blink screens between emergency bays. The very latest

high-tech equipment in the operating theatres. And because

music is often on during operations they have even been fitted with an

iPod dock. One of the things that I am impressed with his the iPod dock.

One of the few things I can understand. What are you most

impressed with? The quality of the construction. Italy does show that

we can match the best in the world. -- it really does show. And the

doctors here won't only be undertaking all kinds of

transplants - but teaching others how to as well. In this theatre,

operations will be watched live by trainee surgeons. Inspired by a

need to increase the number of transplant operations undertaken,

here, the my should increase by as much as their to %. People should

be in a strong position to have facilities set aside 24 hours a day,

to meet those requirements. first patients will be seen when it

officially opens in September. It's not just about high tech kit - and

saving lives - sometimes it's about those times when lives can't be

saved. To begin Transplant Week we have the moving story of Ian

Richardson. Last August, the car his family was in was hit by

another car - which on the wrong side of the road. His wife Joanne

and daughter Mya both died. When he knew they couldn't be saved, Ian

made the decision to donate their organs. At the time, so many

emotions were running round. Disbelief, as well, at the

situation. It was a bit of a dreamlike state I was in. It was

like, this is not right, it is not happening, this is a nightmare,

please wake me from it. I remember back, and I know that when I was

asked, there was only going to be one outcome, one choice. It is one

decision I have never questioned. The way I see it is that my wife

and my daughter lives on. And those other families get to have another

but they, or anniversary, something that we cannot have, so that

somebody else gets some positivity out of the most horrendous

situation imaginable. It is the only thing that is positive that

has come out of this. A difficult decision for Ian - but one that

saved many lives. And throughout Transplant Week we will have

stories from the surgeons and patients. And the story of a little

boy called Travis who is waiting for a heart. His remarkable story

and many others - all this week on Look North. Thanks Sharon. And if

you're interested in becoming a donor and would like to put your

name on the NHS Organ Donor The rest of the day's news now, and

a man's appeared in court accused of attempting to murder a 78 year-

old tourist near York Minster. Paul Knipe appeared at York Magistrates

Court, accused of the attack on South African Lyle Thole near the

Minster on Friday. Mr Thole was taken to hospital for treatment to

a serious head injury. Knipe, who's 43 and from North Yorkshire, was

remanded in custody to appear before York Crown Court on July

11th. A man who died after jumping from a bridge in Carlisle following

a head-on crash has been named by the police. He was 30 year-old

Joseph Gilheaney from Workington. Mr Gilheaney died at the Royal

Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle yesterday. On Friday night, several

people were injured when a car drove the wrong way along Castle

Way in Carlisle. It collided with two cars before stopping. The

driver then jumped off a nearby bridge. A cancer patient, who was

threatened with legal action after he wrote an internet blog

criticising his treatment, has held a protest at the hospital involved.

Daniel Sencier was joined by supporters outside the Cumberland

Infirmary in Carlisle earlier today. He says the hospital has failed to

address the concerns he has about the speed at which his treatment

progressed. He wants to make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else.

Alison Freeman reports. It was a small but well-publicised protest.

Daniel Sancier believes he wasn't treated quickly enough for prostate

cancer at the Cumberland Infirmary. Last month a legal letter was sent

to him by the hospital trust, warning legal action could be taken

if anything untrue was said in the online diary he keeps about his

experiences. I am absolutely gobsmacked. If this was a high-

street store, or hotel, they would have settled this with a few simple

telephone calls, but this trust seems out of touch with the

community. It is beyond belief that I am having to stand here in front

of you today. The hospital broke its silence on the issue for the

first time today. Because the trust has taken a dignified stance, that

has been regarded as a negative thing, but ours have been spent

looking at this to see if there are any issues that need to be taken

forward. I have had periods with cancer, I deal with this every day,

it is difficult to see the headlines and fuel that your coming

to a unit that is not going to do the best for you. -- and to feel

that. Mr Sencier agreed with police to keep protester numbers down

after the hospital said it was worried the entrance would be

blocked. Among them, another cancer sufferer who travelled all the way

from Oxford to support him. It is outrageous that they spend money on

lawyers but not on improving the services that men like us need, be

in, day out. This might not be the largest protest you've seen but has

had desired effect, with national coverage too, but if the trust

don't listen, Daniel's vowed to keep protesting. It's a year since

the former Newcastle doorman, Raoul Moat, went on his dreadful shooting

spree. The people of Rothbury in Northumberland say the way their

village coped, in the aftermath of the manhunt, has never really been

reported. Fair enough, we said, so why don't you do it yourselves? We

put a cameraman and a producer at their disposal. And here, with this

special report, is Morris Adamson in his day job, the Rothbury

village butcher. It is one year since this village was the centre

of Britain's biggest manhunt, 160 armed officers and the world

media's all year. But what did it mean to the people of the village?

This is our story, told by us. Peter was in the village, he has

done potting years. And on the night of the stand-off, he was

really in live to Radio 5 Live, events from his front door, because

he has a great vantage point back. I can see 20 armed officers

pointing their weapons at Raul Moat. He has a shotgun underneath his

head. It was very difficult for the first month or so, after the event.

In the last six months, when I speak to people now, the issues are

about the routine life of living in Rothbury, if you like. Not many

people now talk about what happened to of months ago. It is a very

tight-knit community that has brought together and moved on and

is looking at new things it is doing, in terms of activities for

youngsters, new shops are opening, it is a great place to live. The

positives that have come out of it is that it now has an international

profile. People saw the media coverage and if you put pottery

into a Google search engine now, it will come up with more than just

that incident, including the tourism side, and as a police to

come and live and visit people. -- place to, and lead. You must have

memories when you are back in the village. When we look at different

parts of the village, particularly down by the Riverside, it brings

back memories. Summer was come to the village and see what a

wonderful place it is, we're still here, and people do come and want

to see what happened and where it happen, and whether that is good or

bad is another question, but it is a wonderful place to come. It just

reflects human nature. People hear about things, might not have been

there, and want to discuss it with someone who was close to the

incident at the time. It is human nature. As an individual, I would

have a brief conversation, but not any long detailed discussion about

my personal views on it, or anything like that. I am having

this combination -- conversation now, to get across, through the

media, the good side of Rothbury, and the way that it is moving

forward, rather than looking back. The media presence was immense, to

say the least. We fielded 12 phone calls each day from different media

sources, even at the New York Times clangers aren't, so it shows how

much media attention the village court. -- the New York Times even

rang us up. 90% of the media that we dealt with a were very courteous.

I much prefer the quiet life now, yes! So there we are. 12 months on,

we hope that nothing like that ever happens again in this lovely little

The people of Rothbury, in their own words. It was billed as a top-

of-the-range luxury hotel. To stay there would cost you up to �200 a

night. There was only one problem. It was a scam. The hotel was, in

fact, a part-empty office block in Darlington. But it was being

advertised on the internet as a plush hotel, as a way of tricking

people into providing their bank and credit card details. Stuart

Whincup reports. The write-up and the reality couldn't be more

different. Luxury suites. Beautiful landscaped grounds. Peace and

tranquillity. Alan Todd has owned the property for 36 years, and for

all that time, has been unaware of its tourist appeal. This is the

view of the beach and the palm trees! There we are. I am baffled.

All I can think is that it is an inroad into deviously obtain

people's credit card details well stocked -- credit card details..

The signs were there. The website offered three premier locations -

London, Durham and Bolton. But one internet market researcher said the

website was very credible. They have managed to get ahead of some

big, genuine companies who have put financial effort and time in to get

this website, as a peaceable money- making website. -- feasible. People

are again being warned to use official travel sites when booking

accommodation. But for now at least, Alan says there's no sign of the

eager travellers flocking to sample Darlington's luxury suites and sea-

views. You have been warned! A CCTV camera has been installed on a

Northumberland island - giving a new insight into the behaviour of

puffins. The camera has actually been placed underground in a puffin

burrow on Coquet Island - and the footage has been beamed back one

mile to the seabird centre on Amble quayside. Adrian Pitches joins us

now live from the island to tell us more. Welcome to Coquet Island. We

are broadcasting live from offshore, and look at those wonderful puffins

- 20,000 pairs, we are surrounded by terns, as well, some of which

are the only English colony. You cannot land on this island, but

there are boat trips. We are here, not only is there CCTV footage

being beamed back to the mainland from the island, but they have gone

one step further, and put a camera down a Puffin burrow. Usually they

do big business premises and hospitals, and now the CCTV company

is showing us the secrets of puffins. There was no power. It is

a very harsh marine environment. We deliver the successful camera which

allows them on the mainland to study birdlife in a way that has

never been done before. It presents unique challenges. It is extremely

dark and we're a mile out in the North Sea. It was very challenging,

but the results have indicated the technical effort we have put into

the concept. What have we learnt from this CCTV footage? This

unprecedented to teach. We have seen a Puffin feeding alive sand

eels to its young, not regurgitating food, like other

seabirds through. The man grinning from ear to ear is a warden, Paul

Morrison. It seems like you have had a good season. This is the best

yet. Absolutely superb. I have been here for 25 years. The sand eels

are coming in, the birds are having a bumper time. A few secrets have

been revealed, haven't they? knew that puffins nested

underground but we did not know what they got up to. By the evening

there was a path in in that borrow. The next morning there was an egg.

I have never known that to happen so quickly. I gather that the young

Puffin has a good way of keeping the camera clean. It is very

obliging. It comes out of the little borrow, and uses its tail

feathers to clean the lens of the camera for us. -- burrow. You can

see this footage at the Selly Centre on the quayside. For now,

back to the studio. -- at the Sea Life Centre. Sports news now. Ten

years ago, former Newcastle Falcons player Andy Blyth from Hexham in

Northumberland was just learning to walk again. An injury on the rugby

field while playing for Sale almost killed him. As it was, the damage

to his spine left him paralysed from the neck down, but his

indomitable spirit and determination saw him defy the odds

- and now he's done it again after successfully climbing Mount

Kilimanjaro. When I first met Andy Blyth, he was on crutches just

beginning to put one foot in front of the other. After ten months in

hospital and hundreds of hours of gruelling physiotherapy he was on

the road to recovery - but this was not the only mountain Andy was to

climb The rugby players' union, the RPA, had been a constant source of

help and support so when chairman David Barnes suggested they attempt

Kilmanjaro together to raise funds it was one of those things that

seemed like a good idea at the time. He claimed Mount Kilimanjaro a

couple of years before, and said he was thinking of doing a joint

keeping with Help For Heroes. It seemed like a great idea and that I

would manage it no problem. Bearing in mind at the time that I could

barely walk about a mile, I thought yes, just four miles, straight up

in the air, it will be fine! So a year later after intensive training

in the gym and practise walks up Cheviot Andy found himself in

Tanzania preparing to climb Africas highest mountain. Kilimanjaro is 5,

895 metres high. Andy's team took seven days to complete the

challenge. And it's a risky business - more than half of those

who set out don't make it. Altitude sickness is one of the big things

that gets to people on this. I refused to succumb to that, but one

or two of them had to be raced off the mountain and into hospital on

drips for a few days. While Andy didn't suffer from altitude - his

lack of balance meant a lot of falls. It felt like I had been

playing again, so it brought back some of those good memories. It

brought back my competitive side which I had missed out on over the

last 10 years. The final push to the summit was beyond anything we

had done prior to that. We had a couple of bad days. My leg was

giving me gyp. It was something physical that had let me down and

it annoyed me, but I had always been in a worse place. I have all

this court that to draw on. I look over my shoulder and think, I was

as bad as that, I don't have a lot to complain about. We got to this

bridge, and the sun was coming up, we were all flagging, and it was

slightly emotional. I just collapsed holding or on to the

banner at the top. There were a lot of squeaking voices. Yes. I was a

big girl, and cried! After falling at my bed and learning to walk

again in the first place, it was by hardest -- by far, the hardest

thing I have ever done. Andy and the team raised more than �100,000

but he admits he wont be rushing back to Kilimanjaro in a hurry. In

football, Newcastle United announced a pre season game against

Italian Serie A side Fiorentina as the players returned to pre-season

training today. And the manager Alan Pardew has been at BBC

Newcastle. He's been the guest of Total Sport, which returned tonight

after its own summer break. He answered questions from listeners

about the club's dealings in the transfer market. And speculation

about Jose Enrique. No-one is more keen than me for him to stay, but

he has one year to one in his contract, and his desire to play

Champions League football, it is going to be difficult to keep in it.

It is one of those situations where we have to keep watching and hope

that it falls our way. Time for the weather forecast now with Hannah.

There is a change in the weather on the way. It is a bright start, but

it soon becomes cloudy with rain spreading from the West. Some

evening sunshine at first, then or one-eyed, staying dry and clear

across the region. Another mild night, for kicking off the duvet,

with temperatures around 14 Celsius for many places. Under clear skies,

temperatures still staying into double figures. Heading through the

day tomorrow, some lovely spills of sunshine, then becoming cloudy and

wet from the West, in the afternoon, with rain spreading his words. That

rain sets over the Pennines. Many parts in the east, stain dry.

Temperatures not quite as high yesterday, but still fairly mild.

The top temperature in the east, but cooler in the west, where it

will be cloudier. It will remain unsettled over the next few days.

We're going to have some heavy showers. Some of those are likely

to be thundery. Then more widespread rainfall on Friday. In

the north-east, a similar story, sunshine and showers for the rest

of this week, and on Thursday, some of those showers could have a real

kick to them with thunder and lightning. Things becoming much

more unsettled, although still some bright skies and decent

temperatures. Now, a final look at tonight's headlines. A British

soldier has gone missing in Afghanistan. He's said to have left

a base in central Helmand alone. A massive air and ground search is

underway. His family has been told. And the North's bid to become the

world leader in organ transplants has moved a step closer. Medical