Daily Mirror - 06.09.2019

mirror.co.uk FRIDAY 06.09.2019 DAILY MIRROR^13

DM1ST

PLEA Hallie and mum Lucy

Race against

time to save

sick tot’s life

A MUM is battling to raise

£70,000 in eight weeks so

her daughter, six, can have

life-saving surgery.

Hallie Campbell cannot

walk, talk or sit up and

suffers hour-long seizures.

She has AADC, a rare

condition affecting the

nervous system.

Mum Lucy, 28, said:

“She’s trapped in her body.”

Lucy must raise £70,

by the end of next month

so Hallie can have new

gene therapy in Poland.

She said: “There’s a price

on my daughter’s life.”

The therapy has shown

“promising results” with

children in the US.

Lucy, of Hindley, Gtr

Manchester, has set up a

JustGiving page and said

she would “love nothing

more” than to see Hallie

be able to play with her

nine-year-old sister Macy.

BY RALPH BLACKBURN

ADJOURNED Richard Rufus

Ex-Prem star

Rufus up on

fraud charge

FORMER Premier League

footballer Richard Rufus

appeared in court yester-

day over an alleged multi-

million pound fraud.

But the case had to be

adjourned after he arrived

without a lawyer.

Rufus is accused of fraud

by false representation and

possessing £5.3million in

criminal property.

The ex-Charlton Athletic

defender, 44, has yet to

enter a plea but must do

so when he appears again

on October 3.

At Southwark crown

court, Central London,

Judge David Tomlinson

told him: “ You have known

for a very long time that

you were highly likely to be

accused of these offences.

“You must be ready to

say you are guilty or not

guilty.” Rufus was released

on unconditional bail.

BY WILLIAM JANES

GINCIDENT Sloe spillage after M6 lorry collision

7,000-gallon gin spillage leads to life in the sloe lane

DRIVERS were in desperate need of a

tonic after a spillage of 7,039 gallons of

gin on a motorway caused gridlock.

There were three miles of queues

lasting hours after two lorries collided on

the M6 in Cheshire.

Emergency teams used sand to soak

up the 80% proof booze from the

carriageway between junctions 19 at

Knutsford and junction 20 at Lymm

Interchange on Wednesday. The

carriageway did not fully reopen until

4.30am after the 5.30pm accident.

People were warned to stay away

from the area over concerns the super-

strong alcohol could ignite.

Motorist Rachel Sargeant said from

the jam: “Been sat on the M6 two hours

so far, 200 yards away from 32,

litres of spilt gin! Heartbreaking that I

don’t have a straw.” One Twitter user

asked if the spillage was in the “sloe

lane” and another said stranded drivers

“just had to gin and bear it”.

Cheshire Fire & Rescue Service said:

“Due to the flammability of the alcohol, a

decision was taken to close the

motorway in both directions as a

precautionary measure.”

Nantwich Police added: “Last night’s

major gincident was on the rocks for a

while but after plenty of shaking and

even more stirring the M6 is back open.”

Bob goes under

the knife.. & fork

EXCLUSIVE

BY MARK JEFFERIES

Showbiz Editor

Surgeon who saved comic re-creates heart op on pub table

It’s one of the most

intimate things you

can do... I’ve held

Bob’s beating

heart in my hand

DR CHRIS YOUNG ON THE SATISFACTION

HE GETS FROM CARRYING OUT SURGERY

BOB Mortimer is reunited

with the surgeon who saved

his life tonight to re-enact

his heart op in a pub with

“nurse” Paul Whitehouse.

Dr Christopher Young per-

formed a triple bypass on

comedian Bob three years ago.

It involved prising open his

chest, stopping his ticker for 32

minutes and attaching three

“tubes” taken from his legs.

And in the final episode of

series two of Mortimer &

Whitehouse: Gone Fishing,

Chris gets Bob on a pub table

to show viewers how it was

done – using a knife and fork.

The modest doctor said: “It

was very surreal and Paul

became quite a good scrub

nurse. It was emotional.”

Bob, 60, joked after the

mock op: “I feel reborn again.”

Chris said Bob was “a bit

taken aback” at

seeing him but

after giving him

a  hug, the pair

“got on like a

house on fire”.

The surgeon,

who has carried

out around 4,

heart operations,

revealed “one of

the biggest kicks”

he gets from his

job is “intimacy”.

He said: “When

you open the chest there’s the

beating heart. You put your

hand behind it, lift it up and

you are holding someone’s

beating heart in your hands.

“That is one of the most inti-

mate things you can do to

anyone. So yes, I’ve held Bob’s

beating heart in my hand.”

Bob and Paul’s show, which

follows the pair’s fishing esca-

pades across the UK, has won

legions of fans with its gentle

humour and lush scenery.

Paul, 61, who has also had

heart surgery, teaches his pal

the therapeutic benefits of

fishing as Bob acts the clown.

Chris, who chairs the Heart

Valve Voice Charity, said he

jumped at the chance to be a

guest to raise awareness.

He added that Bob was a

changed man from the “rabbit

in the headlights” who feared

for his life three years ago.

“The Bob I met filming was

much more relaxed,” he said.

■ Mortimer & Whitehouse:

Gone Fishing is on BBC

tonight at 8pm.

[email protected]

HOW IT’S DONE Chris directs Paul on procedure while Bob lies on table @MirrorJeffers

SILVER SERVICE

Paul holds knife

and fork as Dr Chris

‘operates’ on Bob

SOBER MOMENT Medic talks pair through surgery on show