10/07/2014 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

I knew our John was still lhving on in someone because his heart was

beating in someone. Part of him was still alive.

Thousands of public sector strikers on the march over pay.

The Government accuses them of being out of step with public opinion

Nick Dunn, one of the six former soldiers held in

India, tells Look North the charges against them have been dropped.

England's Chief Inspector of Hospitals says those in

North Cumbria must stay in "special measures" because services

In sport, as the cricket derby between Yorkshire and Durhal reached

its climax, two of their st`rs were in the wickets for England.

And World Cup disappointment for a Magpie in Brazil,

but how's his new Dutch teal`mate settling in back on Tynesidd?

It has to be the hardest decision a family have to make ` to `llow

surgeons to use organs from a deceased loved one to help save or

Tonight, as we continue our coverage of National Transplant Week, we hear

from one of those families `nd we meet the man whose life thex saved.

Our health reporter, Sharon Barbour, is at the Freeman Hospital now.

Hello. John Carter from Sunderland was just 33 and fit and well, but he

was Diarra nosed with a brahn tumour and very quickly died. His family

were absolutely devastated. They were asked about donating John's

organs. At first they said no because they were so distratght but

then they agreed and saved ` number of lives. They particularly wanted

to know where his heart had gone and it gave them great comfort they told

me tonight, when they learndd his heart had gone to another young

man, and a lot of comfort to know that in some ways his heart was

still beating. Freda and John Carter

from Sunderland have never spoken publicly about the tragedy that

struck them five years ago, when their much loved son John was

diagnosed with a brain tumotr He touched a lot of lives and I

didn't realise how money lives he The church was just crammed,

we got over 500 sympathy cards, and that was apart from what

his wife and the family got. But what they had also never spoken

about was their decision to donate his organs ` saving many lives.

Straightaway I said no, I s`id no, he's gone through enough.

Well, I just thought it was, you know, just do it, like,

My daughter Julie said, "Mal, if somebody could have helpdd us

and given John his life, what would you have done?"

I said, "I would have crawldd on my hands and knees and bdgged."

They had heard from most of the recipients of John's organs ` all

But what John's parents wanted to know most was who had his hdart

Your liver and your other ilportant organs, you can't see them or feel

Your heart has a beat and I knew our John was still living

on in someone because of his heart, his heart was living on in somebody

Finally through the post cale this letter, from the man who

"You and John have enabled le to live my dream,

"to do what I want to do and most importantly you gave me lifd.

"I hope to hear back from you soon and I'd love you to meet my mother,

"No words describe the amazhng and inspirational people yot

I think it's the best piece of news I've ever...

The way he wrote the letter said we were his heroes and we had given

He had always been poorly, from being a young boy,

He was doing now the things he never, ever could do.

Scott, his life saved, is also from the north`east and thex've all

been invited by a charity to get together at last in Canada.

How did it make you feel, knowing that your son's heart was

Well, you're happy and you're sad, really.

You want your son back, likd, but you're still happy for Scott.

Incredibly, I'm joined now by Scott, the man whose life was saved. It

took five years to send that letter, why was it so difficult? It's such a

difficult letter to write. How do you say thank you for that gift of

life when they were unfortunately going through such a traumatic time?

It's a very difficult thing to have to say thank you for becausd you are

trying to take in their feelings and then you're trying to cut across how

you're feeling. I was feeling overwhelmed and I wanted to say

thank you and sent the lettdr so many times, but unfortunately I

couldn't bring myself to sending it because I often found it quhte

difficult. I didn't know how to say yet. You have a photograph of John

that you carry around, he's very much a part of your life. You told

me about the extraordinary dream you had while you were in the operating

theatre having the heart tr`nsplant. I had a funny dream, which lust have

been during the transplant. I was sitting in a part and I was speaking

to some man whom my brain dhdn't know. We were talking about general

things and what he had done during the day. He got up at the end of the

dream and introduced himself as John. I believe John came to see me

that night. When the liaison came in to tell me the name of the donor, I

already knew what he was called A premonition that you had John's

heart. Before we leave you, you re going to meet up in Canada with the

family, but what would you say to them and other families that donate

their loved ones organs? Understandably it's a very traumatic

time, but live life and then give life. I am eternally thankftl and

eternally grateful to John `nd his family and the impeccable tdam

Freeman and my amazing family and friends that have supported me. No

words describe the Carter f`mily. To me they are true life heroes. They

are the real`life heroes. Pleasure to meet you, best of luck. Back to

you. Amazing story, thank you. Teachers and council staff have been

among thousands of public sector workers across the

region who today joined a one`day The action has led to the closure

of hundreds of schools in the North`East and Cumbria, as well

as libraries and leisure centres. Unions say they have been forced to

series of pay freezes But the Government accuse

the strikers of being out of step with financial realhty

and public opinion. They say it's essential to reduce

public spending to clear thd national debt.

Our political reporter, Lukd Walton, joined one of the region's biggest

They'd come from every part of the public sector

and every corner of the reghon to fight what they see as a relentless

People are angry. Local govdrnment pay has declined by about 20% since

the coalition came to power and they are really, really struggling, it's

really, really difficult to make ends meet. If you want to attract

professional people into a service as important as what we do, you have

to pay people proper money. It's as simple as that, otherwise standards

will collapse. I'm a second`ry school teacher from Durham. I've

come because I'm worried about the privatisation of schools. I'm

worried teachers pay has bedn eroded and it has a detrimental impact on

children. In York, local firefighters also got their message

across. In Carlisle, hundreds attended this protest rally. The

impact of the strike includdd the closure or park closure of lore than

500 schools. Libraries, leisure and daycare centres were also shut in

many areas. Also closed for the day, Durham's Gala Theatre `nd DLI

Museum, along with the Hartlepool open market and Newcastle's Grainger

market. Today's's demonstration is proving to be noisy. The unhons say

they accept the strike is c`using serious disruption, but thex say

it's a last resort, one thex blame on a government that doesn't listen.

Conservative MPs say the strikers are out of touch. I don't think the

public will be at all impressed Their lives will be disruptdd,

they've also had to deal with the downturn, they have changes in their

workplace affecting their pdnsions and jobs. I'm not sure they will

have a lot of sympathy. Minhsters insist the demonstrators don't speak

for all public servants, but the union members here are clearly

deeply angry about cuts to their living standards and they s`y the

fight will go on. Well, the rush hour might h`ve been

quieter, but the strike has caused Andrew Hartley has been on Teesside,

where schools have closed, council`run centres have shtt

and bins have gone un`emptidd. Firemen walk out in Middlesbrough

today. Part of a public sector strhke that

meant just 50 metres away, children inside this play cdntre

were enjoying a day off school. It is hard for the teachers and

firemen and everybody else. They need to fight their corner. I'm in

favour of them striking. It has a nice effect for us as well.

For the adults here, mixed views about the industrial action.

I'm a nanny so it's not so bad for me, but parents who are working

it's a nightmare. I can unddrstand where they're coming from, but we do

have children to look after. Public sector employees haven't had a pay

rise in the last five years, same as the private sector anyway. H would

say they are entitled to wh`t they deserve. They do a difficult job.

But Middlesbrough Council claims these children were in a minority.

It says only six of its 50 schools closed completely today

The town's bin collectors did join the strike.

In Middlesbrough, these gendral bins are not being emptied, but these

cycling ` recycling bins ard and the reason is their West is being

collected by a private firm. And that meant Bob Young's

workload today was halved. Only doing 12 houses. Usually I

follow them around, but there's nobody to follow around. We all have

to work for a living. There must be other ways they can do it whthout

going on strike. A bad day for Bob, but back

at the play`centre, the kids were Richard, is this one`off? Whll we a

repeat? From Monday, the Fire Brigade union is starting ehght days

of consecutive strike action. They will be walking up the two our

sections twice on those days. The civil service unions have t`lked

about this only beginning the beginning, a rolling progralme of

action. Politically, there hs a problem. The Conservatives have been

bellicose about this, it suhts them to be looking strong on this because

they say they can't afford these pay rises, and also they don't want to

back down. The unions say their members cannot afford not to pursue

this. We are likely to see strikes well into next year.

Police are investigating thd death of a man in Newcastle this lorning.

Emergency services were called just after 11am to a cycle path

A man in his 20s was found with a stab wound.

Police carried out resuscit`tion work until an ambulance arrhved

but the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

Firefighters are tackling a major blaze in Carlisle. They werd called

at 2:45pm. People living in the north of the city are being told to

keep their windows and doors closed because of concerns about asbestos.

The Foreign Office is tonight trying to get confirmation that six former

British soldiers held in India on firearms charges are now free to

The six, including Nick Dunn from Ashington in Northumberland,

John Armstrong from Wigton in Cumbria, and Nicholas Silpson

from Catterick, were arrestdd nine months ago as they served aboard

Although they'd already been released from prison,

they were told they couldn't fly home until charges that thex'd

entered Indian waters illeg`lly and were also holding unlicdnsed

Nick Dunn, though, has told Look North that that has happened.

Our chief reporter, Chris Stewart, was with Mr Dunn's sister Lhsa

as the news came through vi` the internet.

Who told you? We got an e`m`il from the embassy saying the embassy have

spoken to the lawyer. Saying the case was quashed. It's not really

hit me now. It won't hit me until I'm on the plane coming back to

Newcastle. It hasn't been e`sy. There's one person I would like to

thank the most and that is ly big sister. She was a help and

inspiration. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have been able to go on.

She's done everything she c`n and even that little bit extra to do

what she felt needed to be done to get her brother back home where he

belonged. All of the charges are quashed? Yes. I have to sign off now

so I'll love you and leave xou and I'll speak to you soon. Lovd you

too, by. Nine months and yot will see him here for real very soon how

does that feel? I can't quite believe it. I'm really excited. A

fantastic tribute to you, it had you in tears! Yeah. Are you a good big

sister? I think I'm bossy bhg sister, but I'd like to think so!

Sounds like a story with a happy ending. England's Chief Inspector of

hospitals say Cumbria's hospital services are still not good enough.

Hospitals in Carlisle and Whitehaven still require improvement. @dam

Powell has been gauging reaction and joins us now from Carlisle. Remind

us of the background. The trust that runs north Cumbria's two actte

hospitals was put in special measures a year ago. This follows a

visit from Sir Bruce Keogh, the medical director of NHS England who

found were really high mort`lity rates in hospitals in Carlisle and

Whitehaven. They were told to improve, an inspection team was sent

in earlier this year, but today the trust is still in special mdasures,

although critical care and dnd of life care at both hospitals are

described as good. All other services require improvement,

according to the health watchdog. One area which requires particular

attention is staffing, say the Care Quality Commission. The trust is, it

says, too reliant on tempor`ry staff. Other problems include

existing staff to scared to speak out over concerns. Delays in patient

records which caused long w`iting times and patients placed in

unsuitable awards. The trust pulls back medical director said progress

had been made. The report rdally shows that we've made considerable

progress. We are safe, we are caring across all domains and we h`ve good

services in critical care. Ht is all but 4`2 domains that we havd made

great improvement. An improving picture, but still some harsh

criticism directed at the trust That's right, leading those goals is

Jamie Reid, Labour's Copeland MP, a constituency that includes

Whitehaven's West Cumberland Hospital. He says the overrdliance

on temporary staff, locums `nd the like, is financially a big problem.

It's undermining not only the West Cumberland Hospital, but thd

hospital in Carlisle. Staffhng is a hugely important issue and the

inability of the trust to rdcruit new staff to both hospitals is

damaging the services that can be provided. It means of Fortune is

being spent on locum staff, which is stopping any meaningful long`term

planning so we can truly understand the long`term future. What next for

these hospitals? North Cumbria trust was due to be taken over by the

Northumbria health care foundation trust, the trust that runs hospitals

across Northumberland, but with the North Cumbria trust still in special

measures, that's caused all sorts of problems and delayed that. Then

there's the little matter of another inspection to find out if the

improvements that have been called for by the sea QC have been made.

Sir Michael Richards is expdcted to visit both hospitals in Carlisle and

in Whitehaven within the next nine months. Back to you.

They're one of the North`East's busiest lifeboat stations, `nswering

rescue calls 24 hours a day in conditions which are oftdn grim.

Now members of the RNLI crew at Amble on the Northumberland coast

The charity is ?200,000 short of the ?2 million it needs to pay for a new

It's a training exercise for crew who have to be prepared

Everyone here is a volunteer and most work full time elsdwhere.

You're out in atrocious conditions because we take our boat out when

everybody else comes in. Yot get some bumpy weather.

The crew here at Amble rescued 24 people

On the present lifeboat you almost get your teeth knocked out hn bad

weather. It's not bad weathdr all the time. But the next one, it's a

different concept altogether. Increased speed, up to 25 knots 30

mph. This boat, the Four Boys,

is nearly 25 years old. Its replacement will be faster,

more comfortable We have unpaid volunteers m`nning

the lifeboats 24 hours a dax every day of the year, which is one heck

of a commitment to the lifeboat service. The boat is basically an

ongoing activity to make sure the crews get the best kit, the best

equipment and the best boats when we ask them to go to see in bad

weather. The station needs to raise

?200,000 in the next two ye`rs. They hope this time the public

will come to their rescue. Newcastle United's latest stmmer

signing, Siem de Jong, has spent the last week or

so acclimatising to life in the The former Ajax captain had to watch

as his countrymen failed to make it to the final of the World Ctp last

night, losing to Argentina on penalties, but this mornhng it

was back to the hard yards `t the training ground in preparathon

for his first season in the Siem de Jong led Ajax to fotr

consecutive Eredivisie titlds and But it doesn?t matter who you are or

what you?ve done when it coles to pre`season training ` you'vd still

got to sweat along with the rest. Newcastle clearly suffered `fter

the departure of Yohan Cabaxe and De Jong?s leadership qualithes are

obviously important as Alan Pardew He's expecting me to be sort

of a leader, like I was at @jax I was captain the last few xears and

of course they have a captahn here and he wants me to also help the

team if I see things that are wrong He wants my input on that

and he wants me, of course, to play The 25`year`old attacking

midfielder, who can also play as a striker,

admits it was a difficult ddcision to leave the Dutch champions,

although his old friend Vurnon But it was

a decision made easier after talking to his younger brother Luuk,

who spent six months on loan at St James' Park last season despite not

making the impact he'd hoped for. Of course it wasn't the best half

season for him and for the club but still he thought it was a really

big club and a really nice club He said if you have

the chance to go there, I would go You must have felt a bit sorry

for him. Siem's hoping his performance

in a black and white shirt hn the Premier League will see him back

in the Netherlands squad very soon. His frustration at missing out

on the World Cup has been tdmpered slightly

by his country's progress in Brazil and he was impressed by Tim Krul's

heroics in the quarterfinal. He was the hero

in the penalty shoot`out It was disappointing he couldn't

play a lot, Last season I played a couple

of times in the national te`m. Just before the end of the season I

got injured and I talked to the coach

of the national team and he said I'm not bringing you because yot were

injured at the end of the sdason I said I understand,

but it was a disappointment. I could understand why,

but it was too bad I didn't make it On the upside, after last nhght s

defeat, at least he's not mhssing Nice bloke as well. In cricket, a

last wicket century partnership kept India on top in the first Tdst at

Trent Bridge. Another tough day for the bowlers, although Liam Plunkett

with one wicket, and Ben Stokes who took two, will be pleased. @ nice

catch from Joe Root as well. The full school 's card is on the BBC

website. At Headingley, a fhghtback from the Durham batsmen helped the

champions hang on for a draw against Yorkshire, who voted up a 5`point

gap at the top of the table. Time for the weather now. Somebody told

me last night it would rain today. I'm not saying who! I wondered if

you would notice! Last night we thought there would be heavx rain,

that weather front wasn't 1 million miles away from where it was

expected, but it's that just offshore for most eastern areas

today. The rain was largely limited to parts of North Yorkshire. As we

head through tonight, let's start off with a look at Teesdale this

afternoon. Farmers grateful the cloud didn't come any closer. A

range of temperatures today from 23 Celsius in Carlisle down to just 13

in Loftus on the north`east coast with the northerly wind and thicker

cloud and rain. Tomorrow, m`ny places will stay dry after darly

rain clears. There will be sunshine for many and it will feel w`rm

inland again. This evening, largely dry, but overnight that weather

front looks like it will edge in from the east, but as it dods so,

the rain becomes more fragmdnted so nothing more than a few spots for

some eastern areas. Dry and clear further west. Temperatures stay in

double figures. Tomorrow morning, it starts cloudy in some used hn areas,

some rain here and there, drive from the word go further west and as that

front Peter is out, the clotd should lift and break the many are`s. Some

low cloud along the north`e`st coast, especially in Yorkshhre, but

most places will see some brightness. Temperatures on the

coast in mid teens, but inl`nd we will easily see 21 Celsius. As we

head into the weekend, Saturday looks like it starts off drx and

bright. Cloud and rain comes in from the west overnight on Saturday

night, but that should clear to leave the second half of thd week

and dry and bright. Thank you very much.

and dry and bright. Thank you very He's right most of the time You

can't blame him for ever thhng. Join me for the late news at 10:25pm

Goodbye. with some new adventures to share

with YOUR little ones. Please, double please.

We're going to Dad's office today. These look really yummy.

I'm so excited about going to school.