Our Hospital Of Hope

As Paul O’Grady goes behind the scenes, Louise Hudson reveals how Great Ormond Street Hospital helped her 13-year-old son…

- Hannah Davies

Paul O’Grady is passionate about Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, but as a grandfather of two, he’s equally emotional about one very special hospital – Great Ormond Street in Bloomsbury, central London.

For his moving new ITV series, Paul O’Grady’s Little Heroes, the presenter volunteers his services on the wards – doing everything from serving the dinners to decorating plaster casts – and along the way meets some of the bravest and most inspirational patients.

‘The kids are amazing because they’ve got cystic fibrosis, they’ve got cancer, they’re on dialysis, and they’re just dealing with it – they never moan,’ Paul, 63, tells us. ‘It’s sad but it’s also very inspiring. They are a lesson to us all.’

This week, he meets 13-year-old Mackenzie Hudson, who has spent years suffering at the hands of bullies having been born with the congenital condition microtia (Greek for ‘little ear’). Cameras follow Mackenzie as he finally has the ear reconstruction surgery that he hopes will change his life – and Paul is in theatre to watch.