A grieving family were left in tears during the latest episode of BBC’s The Repair Shop
An expert on The Repair Shop breathed new life into a deeply cherished family heirloom.
During the latest episode of the beloved BBC programme, luthier Becky Houghton was introduced to Kent resident Emma MacLennan, who brought her son Alex Ward’s Cretan lyra — an ancient stringed instrument — to the barn.
Alex had thrown himself wholeheartedly into the culture of the Greek island of Crete, where his grandmother was from. Tragically, a diagnosis of motor neurone disease (MND) robbed him of his ability to perform, shortly before his passing in 2020 at just 31 years old.
“He just loved the music, so he was keen to learn to play, and that’s why in 2013 he ordered this and just taught himself,” Emma explained.
The grieving mother grew visibly emotional as she spoke about Alex’s diagnosis, saying: “He lost the ability to use his hands. He couldn’t walk, and so he had to stop playing. It’s inevitably fatal,” reports Kent Live.
“Alex was 31 when we lost him… Yeah, we lost him in 2020. But really, he played it as long as he had the ability to play, which is why it’s quite an important item for our family.
“Sadly, something fell on it and it bust. Restoring it will make us almost feel as if we’re somehow restoring Alex in some way.”
Later in the programme, Emma and her daughter Katerina were rendered speechless by Becky’s remarkable restoration of the lyra, which was once again fully functioning.
Emma immediately dissolved into tears, saying: “It’s amazing. You can’t tell at all. Thank you, Becky… Just wonderful.”
The instrument was then performed for the bereaved family, with the song movingly about a man singing to his mother from beyond the grave. “The choice of song was so emotional and so perfect,” Emma concluded.
Emma has since explained: “[Alex] was broken by his disease, but now something that meant a lot to him was back and functioning, and could give voice to him again.”
She revealed that the “dreadful disease” stripped “everything away”, adding: “You’re just the same person, just you’re trapped in a body that doesn’t respond to anything. So, our precious son – who we absolutely adored, he was our best friend to all of us – we just watched him being tortured with his disease.”
Elsewhere in tonight’s episode, bookbinder Chris Shaw was tasked with restoring a magazine written by the owner’s father while being held captive in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp, while Geoffrey Harvey brought back to life a pachinko machine – a pinball-style device – for a pair of sisters.
That’s not all, as Suzie Fletcher also restored a leather football that featured in the Scottish Cup final replay between Rangers and fierce local rivals Celtic back in 1963, a match that Rangers won 3-0.
The Repair Shop is available to stream on BBC iPlayer
If you’ve been affected by the issues raised in this story, you can access more information from the MND Association. The charity’s helpline MND Connect (0808 802 6262) is available Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm, and 7pm to 10.30pm
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