Catch up with all the news from across the county with Abby Hook.
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00:00Hello, good evening and welcome to Kent Tonight live on KMTV.
00:28I'm Abbey Hook.
00:29Here are your top stories on Wednesday the 16th of October.
00:32Restart the heart.
00:34Man saved by brother's quick-thinking CPR in Sittingbourne says others need to learn
00:39the life-saving skill.
00:41Because a cardiac arrest can happen any time to any one of us.
00:46Lucky to be alive.
00:47Cyclist thrown into the air after head-on collision with a swerving car near Folkestone.
00:54Finding your voice.
00:56Watch KMTV's documentary about the Kent researcher who may save the NHS millions.
01:03Have you looked into the costs for the NHS for example?
01:06There's the ongoing treatment, the replacement of the valves, the clinician's time.
01:22First a road in Maidstone has been closed after a three-year-old was hit by a car.
01:26Kent Police says it was called just after 12pm to a crash between a car and a pedestrian.
01:31They confirmed the toddler has injuries believed to be serious.
01:34The A26 Tunbridge Road was shut and a police cordon set up near the junction with Hambledon
01:39Court.
01:40The road remains closed while officers investigate the circumstances.
01:44Any witnesses to the incident should call Kent Police.
01:48A man who was playing golf in Sittingbourne when he went into cardiac arrest is urging
01:53people to learn the vital skill of CPR after his brother saved his life by quickly beginning
01:59chest compressions.
02:00Graham Beswick is now a volunteer with air ambulance charity Kent Surrey Sussex which
02:05is today on restart a heart day been visiting schools to teach pupils how they too could
02:10become lifesavers.
02:12Bartholomew Hall has been down to Holcombe Grammar School in Chatham.
02:18These sixth formers at Holcombe Grammar School in Chatham have been given the morning out
02:22of classes but perhaps to learn one of their biggest lessons, how to save a life.
02:28It's all part of restart a heart day which aims to raise awareness about cardiac arrests
02:33and teach as many people as possible how to perform CPR and use a defibrillator.
02:39One man who knows all how important learning CPR can be is Graham Berwick.
02:44Back in 2018 Graham's heart stopped whilst playing golf in Sittingbourne.
02:48There was three people that did the CPR, one of them was my brother.
02:52I was very fortunate.
02:54I know that things would have been extremely different if I'd have been in a different
02:58place at a different time.
02:59You never know when you're going to need that skill because a cardiac arrest can happen
03:04any time to any one of us.
03:07Tragically only one in ten people survive a cardiac arrest in the UK.
03:11It's hoped that with even the most basic training that number can rise.
03:15So after their morning session how prepared are these sixth formers for the possibility
03:19of having to restart someone's heart?
03:22I have to say from learning from the man himself over there we've learned a lot and we should
03:27be able to perform it quite efficiently and effectively.
03:30I feel really confident doing it because obviously now that I've learned how to do it I think
03:34it's kind of a skill that you won't really forget.
03:37The fact that I've learned that I'm going to save a life, I feel like it's really good
03:40training worthwhile.
03:41On hand to help with the morning's training was KSS volunteer Chris who saved his own
03:46dad's life by putting his training into practice.
03:49It's that skill for life as well.
03:51You never know when you might need it, you probably don't ever want to use it and the
03:55chances of you knowing that person rather than a bystander in the street is very, very
03:59high especially with family members.
04:01This is the room where pupils across the region are being taught how to perform CPR
04:10today but they don't even need to leave their classrooms to do it.
04:13It's being broadcasted directly to them and of course some of the younger pupils are being
04:17encouraged to bring in their own patients as well.
04:20If you turn it on.
04:22Essentially what we're asking children to do is bring a cuddly toy into school today
04:26and then we've brought ours and we're going to essentially for a 30 minute live stream
04:29session show them how to do CPR and they're going to practice it on their teddies.
04:34I think we know that given our reach is now so significant this does and will save lives.
04:39So from primary aged pupils to urgent response paramedics, with today's efforts the charity
04:45is hoping to prove that anyone can become a lifesaver.
04:49Bartholomew Hall for KMTV in Medway.
04:53New footage shows the moment a cyclist was seriously injured after being hit by a car
04:57in Hawkins.
04:59Les Norris was cycling home when he was hit.
05:02This video shows the moment he's cycling down the road before his bicycle can be seen flying
05:06through the air in the top right of the screen there.
05:09Clive Williams who was driving the vehicle says he swerved to avoid a braking car then
05:15mounted the pavement and hit Mr Norris.
05:18Here's the second angle from some dash cam footage.
05:20Norris circled in red again there.
05:23Williams who had smoked cannabis the night before was charged with causing serious injury
05:27by careless driving and pled guilty in August.
05:30Mr Norris fractured several ribs, his wrist and needed emergency surgery.
05:35He was told by doctors he was lucky he hadn't been killed.
05:39Next tonight as the assisted dying bill has been introduced to Parliament, one family
05:43from Gravesend are campaigning for change.
05:46The proposed legislation would give terminally ill people the right to choose to end their
05:51life.
05:52A lawyer, Gareth Ward, says his family would have benefited from.
05:55Three years ago, Norman Ward took his own life after battling prostate cancer for 15
05:59years.
06:00His son, Gareth, says given the option, this would have allowed them a chance to say goodbye.
06:05I mean, it wasn't something that we exactly discussed, but if the choice was open to him
06:11to be able to, you know, check out in a calm, quiet way whereby he could say properly to
06:17us, to his family and everything like that.
06:19My dad's situation was very specific, he was long term terminally ill with this person
06:23right at the end of his life, you know, and he just wanted it to stop.
06:26And that's who I want this to be an option for.
06:29I don't want it to be an option for anybody who feels they've been a burden because the
06:33way their family is making them feel or maybe just how they feel themselves.
06:37People like that should be protected.
06:38Well, KMTV's health expert, Dr Julian Spinks, joins me now to discuss this further.
06:44Julian, the Archbishop of Canterbury has called the idea of assisted dying dangerous, said
06:49it would lead to a slippery slope where more people would feel compelled to have their
06:53life ended medically.
06:55As a doctor, what do you think?
06:57I find myself in two minds.
06:59Certainly I have met some people, particularly people with things like motor neurone disease,
07:03where they end up in a situation where they are helpless and a lot of people don't like
07:07the idea of that coming up.
07:08I do have some concerns over the slippery slope argument, because if you look at some
07:13other countries, particularly places like Holland and Canada, that is exactly what happened.
07:19So I think if the legislation is going to be passed, and this current one has a lot
07:22of protection, you've got to have two doctors say that you're likely to die and a judge
07:26has got to agree that you're suffering before you can do that.
07:30I think that protection is good.
07:32It's whether that stays at that point or whether people start to say, actually, do you have
07:37to prove you're about to die, can you just be suffering and so on, and then you end up
07:41with things.
07:42And the other problem is with more elderly people where they feel that they're becoming
07:46a burden, and they feel they've got to go that way rather than actually being given
07:51options to stay alive.
07:52And some of this debate also goes to the physical suffering and mental health suffering too,
07:58just very quickly.
07:59That's a dangerous line.
08:00I think it's very difficult, because of the fact that particularly depression tends to
08:04lead to suicidal ideation.
08:06They want to commit suicide, and yet that goes away when they get better.
08:09Okay.
08:10Julian, thank you very much.
08:14Now, next this evening, a Kent researcher could be saving the NHS millions across the
08:20country through the power of fighting fungal bacteria.
08:23Dr. Campbell Gourlay helped create a treatment for those who have had their larynx removed,
08:28resulting in drastically reduced hospital visits and more peace of mind for patients.
08:32Well, here's a look at our documentary, Finding Your Voice, airing after Kent tonight.
08:38Your larynx is where your vocal cords are, so when someone has a total laryngectomy,
08:43meaning their larynx is removed, they can no longer speak.
08:46The air that comes from their lungs, it comes out through a hole in their throat called
08:49a stoma.
08:50When patients get fitted with a prosthesis, it involves the small device being put in
08:55the trachea.
08:56Dr. Campbell Gourlay helped to develop a way to keep the valve clean.
09:00The voice prosthesis would frequently fail because of a yeast called candida albicans.
09:05So they developed something called an antifungal treatment strategy to try and extend the life
09:10of the voice prosthesis.
09:12This would mean that patients would get their valve changed less, but also hospital visits
09:16would be dramatically reduced.
09:18So to go into a little bit more detail is Dr. Campbell Gourlay.
09:22Alongside the antifungal gel is almost like a toothbrush that you would use for your teeth.
09:27Essentially the patients would brush their throat, if you like.
09:30They would coat the brush.
09:31It's very important that it was a specific gel that we researched its effectiveness between
09:36six months to two years before they would need a replacement, instead of two weeks.
09:41I went to Kent and Canterbury Hospital to meet Rich, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2008.
09:47He had to have his larynx removed, along with radiotherapy as part of his treatment, and
09:51then, years later, became a part of the research.
09:54He doesn't breathe at all through his nose.
09:57It's all through that valve in his throat.
10:00Later on they put the speech valve in.
10:02Tell me a little bit about your journey from then to now.
10:11Generally it was around six weeks, and that trauma, as well, kept changing that valve in his throat.
10:33Was it strange to kind of learn how to talk again, in a way?
10:41I'm rich now.
10:42Sorry.
10:43Yeah.
10:44Very important.
10:45I've got a voice.
10:47A day is a long time for patients and hospital staff.
10:50Have you looked into the costs for the NHS, for example?
10:53There is the ongoing treatment, the replacement of the valves, the clinicians' time.
10:59It certainly saves many millions to the NHS.
11:03As a result of this team's success, they can apply a similar strategy to patients who have had a tracheostomy.
11:09They're also helping those who use a feeding tube to pass nutrients into their stomach.
11:14But right now, a lot of people are safer, and will have found their voice again.
11:21Some very interesting research there.
11:23That Kent Tonight special, Finding Your Voice, will air right after this very short break.
11:28That's all from me for now.
11:29There's more news made just for Kent throughout the evening, of course.
11:33And in the meantime, you can head over to our website, kmtv.co.uk.
11:37But stick around for that Kent Tonight special, straight after this break.