Birmingham Children's Hospital

[jennyjoan]

Couldn't believe the full episode of a 10month baby taking ill and as we assume a happy ending - he died. Terrible.

[Cloverjo]

Oh dear. I didn't watch it, but very sad. I can't imagine how terrible it must be to lose a baby.

[Mamyalynne]

It's a thought most of us never want to even think yet it happens to parents somewhere everyday, heartbreaking.

[jennyjoan]

Well Jo I watched it as nearly 10 times out 10 there is usually good ending. Couldn't believe the little baby being "camera'd" so much with the mother and father and then he died. If I had have been the parents I am sorry I couldn't let anybody invade the privacy of my baby.

[anneasquith]

It was such a sad outcome.

[Mamyalynne]

They obviously thought that as part of the programme it presented the truth and not just the happy endings we'd all love to imagine.

Documentaries by their nature are hard hitting and often that's not pretty, still tragic though.

[Buenchico]

We all get so used to fictional accounts of medical intervention, where there is most commonly a positive outcome, that we forget just how sad the realities can often be. For example, many fictional storylines have people making quick recoveries from heart attacks when given CPR but the reality is that around 90% of people who are given CPR [outside of a hospital setting] actually die (either immediately or within a few hours or days).

I remember a similarly hard-hitting documentary to the one you mention, Jennyjoan, which was shown on TV many years ago. It featured a cave rescue team who were rescuing an injured pot-holer. The cameras followed the team as they found their way to the victim and then showed him happily chatting to his rescuers and the film crew. Within a short while viewers felt that they really knew the guy, who was definitely 'a bit of a character'.

The rescue seemed to be going well, and there was no great concern over the extent of his injuries, when they reached the last stage of their mission. For that they had to haul the guy (on a stretcher) through a narrow gap leading to the surface, so that, for a short while, nobody could be alongside him to monitor his condition. The cameras were on the surface, waiting to see his smiling, cheerful face but when he was pulled clear of the cave he was found to be dead. I'm sure that it left a lot of viewers in shock.

[Smowball]

Oh no : (

[anneasquith]

Its true Chris. With so many reality shows we forget real life can actually be cruel.

[bednobs]

i saw it and was rather surprised too - you re right, on progs like 24 hrs in A and e, we usually see the person afterwards either ok, or recovering. This was a very sad ending for that family, and just goes to show how precious life is and how it cn be taken away so quickly