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BBC News
By Sharon Barbour
image captionBill Steel worked in TV and radio for decades
The son of broadcaster and actor Bill Steel has told how the pressure of being his sole carer pushed him to the brink of despair.
Mr Steel, 82, has Alzheimer s Disease and is receiving end-of-life care.
Christian Steel, 45, tried to take his own life after his mum Isabel died suddenly from Covid and he struggled caring for his terminally ill father. I d lost my best friend in my mum and I was watching my dad die. I thought I can t deal with this , he said.
Bill Steel played Bernard McKenna in Coronation Street in 1997 and was a presenter for Tyne Tees Television before becoming an announcer. He also voiced more than 20,000 advertisements.
BBC News
Published
image captionSir Simon Steven visited Newcastle s Royal Victoria Infirmary
The anniversary of the UK s first Covid cases is an appropriate time for people to thank all NHS workers, the head of the health service has said.
NHS England chief executive Sir Simon Stevens praised treatment innovations on a visit to Newcastle s Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) on Friday.
The hospital treated the UK s first two Covid-19 patients a year ago.
The pair, a Chinese student and his mother, were in York when they fell ill with the virus.
Sir Simon said: These are the staff here at this hospital in Newcastle who treated the first coronavirus patients in England a year ago.