People who had an emotional impact on you as a child

[Trickyvee]

As a child I wasn't deeply moved by many things but the first people who did have an impact on me were children via their appearences on TV. Perhaps it was because they were a similar age to me.

The first was Igor Pavlovets, one of the 'children of chenobyl'. A documentary was made of his life as an adopted child in Britian and how he was learning to cope with his disabilities. I've always wondered how he must be getting on now as an adult.

The other I'm afraid to say I have very little memory of now but it was a girl with terminal cancer. IIRC she was on Wogan a few times and I think she might have written a little book about her experiences of treatment, so other children would know what to expect. She died when she was 15. Can anybody remember who she was?

Anybody else have memories of people who had an emotional impact on them?

[HG]

Re: People who had an emotional impact on you as a child

One that sticks in my mind was a little boy who was featured on That's Life, I think his name was Ben. I can't remember what was wrong with him but I can actually remember praying for him after That's Life had finished.

[Jacqueline]

Re: People who had an emotional impact on you as a child

I remember him too HG. His name was Ben Hardwick and he had liver disease. I remember he was very yellow looking as a result.

I've just checked and Ben was the youngest person to receive a liver transplant at the age of two but sadly he died soon after.

More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Hardwick

[themilkman]

Re: People who had an emotional impact on you as a child

Tbh I was really moved when Mary Ingalls (little house on the prairie) went blind, always fancied her

[xmark1234]

Re: People who had an emotional impact on you as a child

lol thats funny just reading tha milkman i liked her too

Tbh I was really moved when Mary Ingalls (little house on the prairie) went blind, always fancied her

[themilkman]

Re: People who had an emotional impact on you as a child

lol thats funny just reading tha milkman i liked her too

:d:d:d

[mazzer]

Re: People who had an emotional impact on you as a child

I remember being heartbroken when Jaime Summers died in the 6 Milion Dollar Man, leaving poor Steve Austin heartbroken. That and Allie McGraw dying in Love Story.

i can remember the That's Life / Ben Hardwick tragedy. I can still recall the home video footage of that beautiful little boy "dancing" with his dad by standing on his feet, to his favourite song, Ben by Michael Jackson. I seem to recall that after his death the young parents split up from the pressure of it all - so very sad. He's got a hospital wing named after him.

[Twocky61]

Re: People who had an emotional impact on you as a child

I cried when Nicole Dixon's character Bobby Fletcher in Home & Away was run over in the sea by a speedboat and died - around the early 90's I believe

Only ever seen her in Heartland I think it was called (another but obscure Aussie soap)

[akb48fan]

Re: People who had an emotional impact on you as a child

I still get tears in my eyes watching Tom Baker regenerate into Peter Davison in the Dr Who story Logopolis. Tom has been my idol since I first saw him as the Doctor in the late 70's. As a child I didn't understand why the Doctor had to change his appearance but I knew that Dr Who would never be the same again without him.

[Twocky61]

Re: People who had an emotional impact on you as a child

Joni Erickson Tyder for me - Aged sixteen she jumped in Cheapsake bay in SF US and broke her neck

She is now an evangelist

[zabadak]

Re: People who had an emotional impact on you as a child

I remember him too HG. His name was Ben Hardwick and he had liver disease. I remember he was very yellow looking as a result.

I've just checked and Ben was the youngest person to receive a liver transplant at the age of two but sadly he died soon after.

More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Hardwick

Charity single

[George 1978]

That's Life was indeed a programme where most people had an emotional impact on what they saw there - certainly around the time that Childline was founded and the reports of bullying were done on the programme.

[beccabear67]

Via media as opposed to real-life friends and family? From the 1970s I was haunted by the story of the 'Boy in the Bubble'... there was a tv movie about him starring John Travolta. I had read some newspaper and magazine articles about him, he was in the U.S. and couldn't leave a germ-free plastic bubble without a spacesuit. I thought about his reality.

I don't mean to mention Nicola Cowper so much on here, but seeing her in a serial titled S.W.A.L.K. (Channel 4 was it?) was one of those rare recognition of 'that's almost me' moments. I'm not sure I had many others. She was also in Break In The Sun. Both had those slim paperback adaption 'for young readers' books like The Tomorrow People also had... maybe been the Piccolo or TV Times imprint?

There was also the Lucy character in Brookside though no CND marches for me. I heard later the young actress had died.

Ha, just finding out Bobby from Home & Away was killed off... I must've dropped it before that... last story i saw was the surfer boy with an aneurysm that could go at any moment.

I was hoping someone might name Sooty!

[Semi42]

For me, it was as a young boy watching a movie with all the family probably one bank holiday. Moved me to tears . The movie was Heidi