Chloe and the Medical Hire team were privileged to have been involved in Emmerdale’s latest emotional storyline where the cast said goodbye to much-loved character Ashley Thomas.
The long-running storyline, which has sensitively covered the subject of dementia, sadly came to an end last week when Ashley tragically passed away.
After living with dementia for some time, Ashley’s health recently took a turn for the worse when he collapsed with a terrible coughing fit whilst spending time with his friend Bob at the care home. Ashley was immediately rushed to hospital where he was diagnosed with an incurable form of pneumonia which the family were tragically told he wouldn’t recover from.
Accepting that Ashley doesn’t have long to live, his wife Laurel brings him back to the family home where he is surrounded by family and friends before sadly passing away.
The final scene, however, was made even more emotional by a brief moment where Ashley remembers Laurel. Having lived with dementia for a long-time, Ashley had not recognised his wife so this final moment was incredibly touching.
Helping to make the end to this emotional storyline true to life, Medical Hire were heavily involved in filming on the hospital and the at-home sets. As well as providing the hospital furniture and equipment, professional medical advisors were present on-set to offer support and guidance to the cast and crew, particularly in the scenes where Ashley had a brief recollection of Laurel.
Chloe Mitchell, Director for Medical Hire said, “It’s a real honour to have been a part of such an emotional and sensitive storyline. John Middleton played Ashley phenomenally throughout the entire dementia storyline and it was truly moving to watch the story come to an inevitable end. The team at Emmerdale are an amazing crew to work with and we look forward to supporting them on future projects.”
For more information on medical equipment and medical props for hire for TV and film, call Medical Hire on 0113 2628000.
(*Image courtesy of ITV)