Touching tribute to unpaid carers as Radio 2 presenter, Johnnie ‘The Pirate’ Walker and his wife Tiggy share deeply personal reflections of their twenty-year journey of unpaid caring at the start of Carers Week
- Johnnie and Tiggy Walker have been joint Patrons of Carers UK for nearly a decade.
- Couple cared for one another through their respective cancer diagnoses and Johnnie’s ill-health over the past twenty-years.
- They are sharing their new caring story on radio for the first time in their BBC Sounds Walker and Walker: Johnnie and Tiggy and Tiggy’s exclusive interview on Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine Show.
- Johnnie and Tiggy talk candidly about his terminal illness, the joy they have shared and other end-of-life reflections.
- Carers Week runs from 10-16 June 2024
BBC Radio 2 Sounds of the 70s presenter, Johnnie Walker and his wife Tiggy Walker, who are joint Patrons of Carers UK, have shared their new personal journey of unpaid caring and now dealing with Johnnie’s terminal diagnosis, in a deeply moving podcast and interview.
The couple are talking about their new caring situation and are keen to highlight the role of the 5.7 million unpaid carers across the UK looking after older, chronically ill or disabled relatives or friends at the start of Carers Week 2024.
Johnnie Walker was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma of the colon twenty years ago and was cared for by his wife, Tiggy. He recovered and then cared for his wife through her breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Now, Tiggy and Johnnie are sharing the news that he is living with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, which is inflammation of the lungs, and is being cared for once more by his devoted wife Tiggy as he nears the end of his life.
The couple said:
“It was a big decision to come out with the news that Johnnie is unwell and that Tiggy is in a challenging caring role again, but in our roles as joint Patrons of Carers UK it seemed to be the one thing we could do right now to help the cause.”
It is estimated that the millions of unpaid carers save the economy £162 billion per year – the equivalent of a second NHS. Johnnie and Tiggy are keen to address the extraordinary toll of unpaid caring which they have witnessed and experienced over two decades.
Tiggy Walker, joint Patron of Carers UK, said:
“Unpaid caring is a tough journey. When Johnnie was diagnosed with cancer in the first months of our marriage, I felt so scared of losing him, but at the same time had to find all the strength I had to help save him. Yet I was completely isolated and invisible. I had no support. I wish back in 2002 I’d known about Carers UK.
“Both Johnnie and I have really seen great changes over the past twenty years. Slowly but surely, unpaid carers are being recognised, seen and not forgotten. From GPs recognising the emotional impact and offering counselling to charities like Carers UK and its partners working year in, year out to offer advice, support and even offer changes in the law so that unpaid carers get the help they vitally need.
“But we also know that so much more needs to be done and that’s why we are sharing our story.”
In the new BBC Sounds podcast: Walker and Walker: Johnnie and Tiggy, they talk candidly and with humour and gratitude about their lives together. Tiggy says:
“It has been a long journey of caring. I think that’s made me wiser, more compassionate, more patient. I think it’s been a great learning curve.”
Speaking of Tiggy as his partner and carer, Johnnie says:
“As soon as we returned from our honeymoon in India, I was diagnosed with cancer so the vows of in sickness and in health were immediately tested.
“Now here we are at the end of my life. You’re now having to care for me all over again. You’ve definitely saved my life. I couldn’t have made it without you...Your caring for me now makes my days so much better than they would be without you.”
Helen Walker, Chief Executive of Carers UK, said:
“We are so grateful to Johnnie and Tiggy for sharing this new development in their caring story, in order to raise the profile of carers in the run up to Carers Week. It is such an incredible, and typically selfless, act on their behalf to talk publicly about Johnnie’s current illness and indicative of their commitment to Carers UK as our dedicated joint Patrons. They are an inspiration to the 5.7 million carers across the UK who so often feel forgotten and invisible.
“Their shared experiences of unpaid caring will be so familiar to millions across the country and goes a long way to helping with this year’s Carers Week theme, ‘Putting Carers on the Map’. Many unpaid carers are at breaking point – juggling work and unpaid care, or leave work altogether often damaging their finances, to help care for those closest to them. By sharing their last caring journey together, Johnnie and Tiggy are raising awareness of the lives and experiences of millions of unpaid carers to help them be seen, heard and valued.”
If carers want advice about caring, they can contact Carers UK by visiting the website, www.carersuk.org, through email: advice@carersuk.org or telephone helpline: 0808 808 7777.
Notes
The podcast Walker and Walker: Johnnie and Tiggy is available on BBC Sounds: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0020g6d
Tiggy’s interview on Monday’s Jeremy Vine Show featuring excerpts from the podcast will be available to listen again: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001zwlj
An article has also been published by Dorset Magazine and is now available online: https://www.greatbritishlife.co.uk/magazines/dorset/24373316.tiggy-walker-caring-husband-dj-johnnie-walker/
About Tiggy and Johnnie, Patrons of Carers UK
Radio 2 Presenter Johnnie Walker MBE and his wife, Tiggy Walker, became joint Patrons of Carers UK in 2015 in its 50th anniversary.