Two Blackburn paramedics featured in last night’s episode (21 October) of BBC’s Ambulance – and one "troubled" man’s heart-breaking experience was featured.

The Bafta award-winning show was filmed during the early months of 2021 and it captures challenges faced by frontline staff responding during the second wave of the pandemic.

In the episode, Omar and Wendy were faced with some repercussions of the pandemic, especially in regards to mental health issues.

Lancashire Telegraph: The man said "I want to be loved" on the BBC show (Photo: BBC)The man said "I want to be loved" on the BBC show (Photo: BBC)

The duo were called out to a sad and “unusual” incident involving a naked man who said he was in pain and felt lonely.

Ambulance dispatcher, Louise, said: “This is a bit of a strange one for you. A 56-year-old male is stating that he has pains everywhere

“He’s currently in the phone box saying he’s got no clothes on and he’s only got pants.”

 

 

Omar and Wendy arrive on the scene in an ambulance and they both gasp when they find the man in the phone box.

Wendy say: “Oh my word – bless his little cotton socks what is he doing?”

They put the 56-year-old into the ambulance commenting that he feels “freezing”.

The man, who has been kept anonymous, says he “doesn’t want to live anymore” and that he “wants to be loved”.

Speaking to Wendy, he said: “I’m not an alcoholic.”

“No-one is judging you here,” Wendy replied.

The man added that he was “grateful God sent [Wendy]", to which she replied: “Somebody somewhere is up there looking after us. They have a plan for us.”

After bringing the man to hospital, Wendy speaks to Louise to give her an update.

She said: “He’s a nice man but very troubled – he just said he’s just wants to be happy and he wants to be loved.”

Louise replied: “Sounds like he’s had a bit of a rough night. It’s not nice to think of someone so cold out there and wanting to be loved and feeling so alone.

“Especially at this time when everyone wants to come together.”

After the segment, Wendy reflects on the state of mental health during the pandemic – and also talked about her own struggles.

 

 

Wendy states: “There’s not been enough extra help for people with mental health problems during lockdown. I can understand how people get into the state they get in with their mental health.

“You’re sat in four walls with nobody to talk to.”

Wendy said that her battle with mental health issues happened back in 2004.

She explained: “My dad had a heart attack, my nana died. All of that happened in a really short space of time.

“I tried to hide  [my depression and anxiety]  but I thought I’m going to have to do something about this before I reach rock bottom.

“The first my husband knew about it was when I said ‘I’ve got depression and anxiety’ to my doctor.

“I’ve been alright for a while – but recently during lockdown I’ve had a couple of anxiety attacks and I thought  ‘you know what? I’m gonna go back on [anti-depressants].

“It could happen to anybody.”

The North West of England has recorded more Covid-19 infections and deaths per capita than anywhere else in the UK.

At one point, Blackburn with Darwen was the area of the UK with the highest rate of new cases of Covid-19 cases.

In her closing comment on the show, Wendy said: “Blackburn will bounce back. It doesn’t matter how hard life gets how tough things are- you can’t give up you just have to keep going.

“We’ll look after our own we’ll look after each other.”

If you are struggling with your own mental health, the North West Ambulance Service has listed websites and contact information of various mental health charities.

You can find them on their website. 

You can catch up on previous episodes of BBC’s Ambulance on iPlayer.

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