Bradley Walsh had a tearful moment during a discussion on This Morning, after hearing the story of a mother who has not been allowed to visit her critically ill son for six months due to coronavirus restrictions.
During Thursday’s edition of the daytime show, Bradley heard the story of Ruth, a woman whose son, Sam, is in the late stages of Huntington’s disease and currently resides in a care home.
Because of Covid restrictions, Ruth has not seen her son in six months, and reached out to the Chase host over Instagram hoping that he could help raise awareness of her situation.
“I’ve never met Ruth and Sam but [their story] is heartbreaking,” Bradley told presenters Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield.
“In Ruth’s case, specifically, six, seven months… having daily contact with Sam and then all of a sudden, none, zero. And he’s in the later stages of Huntington’s… and it’s so sad.”
Becoming choked up, he continued: “It’s hard enough, to see your… it’s hard enough. I’m sorry. It’s hard enough to see your parents go, but if your child is going to go before you, something needs to be done. I apologise.”
Holly then assured Bradley he had no reason to be sorry, after which he said he felt the government needed to step in to help people in situations like Ruth’s.
“It’s so upsetting,” he said. “And I had no idea. I had no idea this was going on… I’ve just done some research, and I believe there are 22,000 care homes in the United Kingdom… and that’s extraordinary.
“I don’t know how we do it, but something… and I also think it should be government-led, and not necessarily locally-led.
“There needs to be a blanket decision made, and the expense would be enormous, but if you’re going to live out your last days, on your own, locked in isolation, without your loved ones and your friends around you… [and] the people you leave behind are going to be scarred for life. And that is just tragic. Tragic, it really is.”
At the end of the discussion, Phillip told viewers that a government representative had declined to join them, but read out a statement from the Department of Health and Social Care.
Their statement read: “We know limiting visits to care homes has been very difficult for many families and residents, our first priority remains the prevention of infection in care homes to protect staff and residence, which is why more than 120,000 tests are being sent out every day solely for the care sector.”
This Morning airs every weekday from 10am on ITV.