30 FEATURE
17 JUNE 2021
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From the front line… Must we fight forever for freedom?
BY JACQUELINE CURZON Our long awaited Freedom Day has proved, despite government assurances and the futile hope of millions, another dead-end for Britain. With 65% of us having at least one jab, and half the UK population double vaccinated, one must ask, can we really wait for Zero Covid? The hospitality, catering, wedding and entertainment sectors, already at breaking point, will simply not survive if we hesitate much longer. As I have alluded to many times, one new variant should ‘not prevent our summer,’ for further outbreaks will doubtless bring other 'variations on the covid theme.' Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber has bravely said he will open his theatres regardless of further restrictions, but what of the concert halls, recording studios etc? They cannot afford to lie empty indefinitely or worse, have such a distanced audience that it becomes a totally alien experience, as well as proving financially unviable. To those of us who have in the past enjoyed live music, dance or the dramatic arts, we might soon find ourselves living on a virtual island or a musical wilderness in the future. Boris' guidance is that we should continue with distancing measures, working from home where possible; you can go ahead with your wedding plans with an unrestricted number, but strictly no dancing or singing. Yeah, right….. Travel categories are still not being relaxed, so summer looks pretty much off the cards, but hopefully lockdown won’t be dragged on/off until next spring - Groundhog Day then making it a neat 2 year hiatus on life. Going back then to the UK’s 128,000 covid deaths….. I wonder if perhaps those who have fallen in the battlefields of coronavirus should be awarded a medal of recognition, for every single one of their deaths was avoidable, regardless of whether the virus escaped from a laboratory or was quietly cultivated in a pangolin. Hospital Trusts have found themselves in hot water for issuing DNRs during the pandemic, without discussion with patients nor permission from their families. Caroline Jackson (74) found herself in this questionable category after discharge from John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, where she was being treated for a broken pelvis. Medical staff had ticked boxes indicating consent had been granted by her, which was untrue. The NHS has repeatedly stated that such DNRs should not be invoked. An inquiry is predicted although Matt Hancock is adamant that everyone who needed appropriate care during the pandemic, got it. Reports from Mrs Jackson and others tell a rather different story, that of some medics playing G-d. To those who might consider such a rationale acceptable, or view the scourge of ongoing cancer casualties as just an inevitable, unfortunate
Jacqueline Curzon PHOTO: LARA MINSKY PHOTOGRAPHY
event in the Great Covid War, I say one would not take such a pragmatic view if it were YOUR mother, husband, wife or child who would succumb through neglect, division and non provision of treatment. The piper's tune would change. Now, given the incidence of cancer is greater than 1:2, it could be coming to a household near you. Never did I expect 2 out of 4 within my immediate family would be struck with the Big C. It's time cancer, consultations and care were back firmly at the top of the NHS to-do list. Scientists have successfully created a 3-D replica of a cancerous human liver which doctors can use to practice operations. The prototype, made from a combination of synthetic gels and fibres, was created by researcher Richard Arm at Nottingham Trent University. Surgeons currently assess patients using scan data ~ ultrasound, CT and MRI. Richard Arm, a PhD candidate at the School of Art & Design at NTU and who made headline news in 2016 after creating a prototype 3-D heart (known as a thoracic trauma trainer), designed and constructed the liver. He used scanned data and was guided by Dr Christopher Clark, a radiologist at Nottingham University Hospital, who said this technology ‘could give surgeons increased confidence in the procedures’ they are undertaking. Hopefully it will pay dividends for patients with liver cancer. The legal age for getting married in the UK is to rise to 18 within the next year, bringing marriageable age in line with drinking, buying alcohol and voting, although if you do live in Scotland you can have your political say at the age of 16 thanks to Auntie Nic! In the past 10 years there were 3,354 cases of young marriages, and last year the Home Office forced marriage unit {FMU} intervened in around 580 cases of marriage of under 17s. The minimum age of 16 was set back in 1929 when the moral canvas of society was somewhat different, and parental influence was more weighty than is generally seen today. A man called Ziona Chana (76), the head of a polygamist religious sect in Mizoram,
India, with 4000 members, has died and is believed to have created the world's largest family. We all know someone who might qualify for that accolade, but - trust me you're going to lose this one. Chana had 39 wives, 94 children, 33 grandchildren and one great grandchild. His family was huge by north eastern Indian standards, and if you were wondering how on earth he could accommodate this vast family, they lived in a 100 room, four storey mansion in the remote village of Baktawng Tlangnuam, and are largely self-sufficient, running their own school, farming and growing crops etc. I imagine their Friday night round-the-campfire to be tuneful and loud - a bit of a balagan. Twin sisters made the headlines after a crocodile attack in a dangerous location in Mexico. Georgia and Melissa Laurie (28) were taken to a lagoon near Puerto Escondido by an unlicensed tour operator, where Melissa was then bitten, shaken and dragged underwater by a croc. She was saved by her sister who punched the reptile repeatedly. Melissa, a zookeeper, suffered an open wrist fracture, organ lacerations, internal bleeding and water in her lungs, and was placed in an induced coma, whilst Georgia was treated for injuries to her hands. The twins' older sister Hannah said the guide had ‘gone to where the crocodiles lived and not the location where all legally certified, sanctioned tours take place.’ So now you know the picture once bitten, twice shy! In an unconnected event, Michael Packard (56) managed a lucky escape, after being nearly swallowed by a humpback whale, off the coast of Massachusetts. Packard, a lobster diver, was near the seabed, when he was literally swept up, and at first thought he had been attacked by a great white shark; however the absence of killer teeth alerted him to it being a whale. Unlike Jonah, Packard's ordeal was over within a minute or so, when the whale rose and spat him out. A nearby fishing vessel crew saw him being ejected into the air, and rescued him. Although a humpback can grow to 52 feet and 30 tonnes, their oesophagus is too small to swallow a human being. So, lucky for Packard, the humpback's lunchbox evidently wasn’t quite to its liking. An obituary of note this week is that of Ann Russell (92), who became Sister Mary Joseph of the Trinity. Ann was an only child and was born in San Francisco in October 1928. Her father was chairman of Southern Pacific Railways and at age 20 she married Richard Miller, whose family had founded Pacific Gas and Electric Utility Company. By the time she was 27 she had five children with five more following. In her youth she had her hair done several times a week by Elizabeth Arden, she covered her parasols with Hermes
scarves, and coordinated her spectacles with her outfits. She smoked, drank, played cards and spent many hours a day on the telephone at her nine bedroomed house overlooking San Francisco Bay. She and her husband Richard would frequently entertain 40 guests at a time. According to a friend she had enjoyed a high diving, fast driving, amazing life with a shoe collection to make that of Imelda Marcos seem ‘pitiful’ by comparison. She was philanthropic and sat on the board of 22 charitable organisations. In 1984 her husband Richard died of cancer, and thereafter she spent several years doing all the things on her Wish List, and giving away all of her wealth. Then, on her 61st birthday in 1989, she threw a farewell party at the Hilton for her 800 closest friends. The guests listened to music by two orchestras and enjoyed gastronomic delights as Ann Russell Miller flitted through the room trailing a helium balloon behind her saying, ‘here I am!’ As a prominent socialite and a mother of 10 it was highly unusual for her to leave this privileged life, but the following day she flew to Chicago and knocked on the door of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and (according to a friend) when they opened the door she said, ‘Here I am. Trick-or-treat!’ In this new life she spent 23½ hours of each day in silence and never again went out into the world. It was a huge contrast to her previous life: she slept on a thin mattress on a bed made from planks, was allowed one visitor a month, and even then the meetings were held with her sitting behind two sets of bars. After her death her son Mark revealed he’d only seen her twice in 30 years and she’d never met many of her grandchildren. She is survived by five sons, five daughters and extended family. And Finally ~ the youngest recipient of last week's Queen’s awards is Amika George (21) who campaigned for girls to be given free personal care products by the government. Amika, who is studying history at Cambridge, has now received an MBE for her services to education, along with friends Clegg Bamber and Anna Miles, who were also involved in the campaign. A man gifted with an incredible memory, has hit a world record by reciting the names of all 712 Titanic survivors in under 42 minutes. Dean Gould (56), father of three, barely paused for breath whilst reeling off the names of the survivors of the 1912 disaster. Not one to run away from a challenge, he previously recited pi {π} from memory to 1,000 decimal places, in just 8 minutes. Well then, I’ll see you roughly 10,080 minutes from now. Love Jacqueline x
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