Lee Hurst's dad dies
... just days after comic's suicide threat
Lee Hurst’s dad has died, just days after the distraught comic threatened to kill himself over his hospital treatment.Former docker Charles died from bowel cancer on Wednesday at the age of 74.
Hurst, who was at his bedside, said: ‘At the end it was peaceful. I would like to pass on my thanks for the support I have received.’
On Monday, the comic locked himself in his car and threatened to overdose on the painkillers he takes for his crippling back condition after becoming distressed at his father’s condition.
He made an emotional call to the Daily Mirror from the car, complaining that Maidstone Hospital in Kent was not looking after Charles properly because he was not on oxygen or a drip.
Hurst, 44, was briefly detained under the Mental Health Act, but later said: ‘I wasn't going mad. It's the ultimate in complaining. My dad needed help and this was the only way I could think of getting people to act.’
The hospital insists Charles was given the proper treatment.
Hurst has postponed his run of solo show at the Backyard Comedy Club he owns in Bethnal Green, East London, because of his father’s illness. These will now take place next year.
Published: 4 Nov 2006
