29 November 2023 , 15:09
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Call The Midwife star Jenny Agutter has revealed that her family were dealt a blow after it was discovered that her niece was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, which had an impact on her life expectancy.
The 70 year old acclaimed actress who first shot to fame as part of the Railway Children, appeared on Loose Women where she explained that her niece Rachel's health battle inspired a storyline in the BBC medical period drama. Jenny, who plays Sister Julienne, was on the ITV show to speak about a charity concert that she is involved in called Carols By Candlelight, which raises money for the condition.
Jernny Agutter reveals family tragedy that inspired emotional storyline in Call The Midwife (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)Cystic fibrosis is an inherited condition that causes sticky mucus to build up in the lungs and digestive system. This can cause lung infections and issues with digesting food. Speaking about her niece's diagnosis, Jenny said: "My niece has CF (cystic fibrosis) and also my nephew who we recently discovered has CF. The extraordinary news is that when she was born to today, I mean the drugs she is now taking, what they call a breakthrough drug which comes from a company called Vertex and that has changed her life completely."
But it looks as though the drug is not readily available due to its cost and is now not being recommended to sufferers by NICE, the National Institute for Health And Care Excellence. She added: "The difficulty that we are facing now is that they are extremely expensive and NICE are no longer recommending them. And they're going through a period where they are looking at that to see whether they can actually be cost effective. The great hope is that Vertex will, who are now in profit from the drugs, will bring the cost right down, so globally people with cystic fibrosis will get that benefit. Because if they don't, I mean I think they are talking about a 40 year difference in people's lives, its absolutely amazing it really is a big big change."
Jenny Agutter plays Sister Julienne in the BBC show (BBC / Neal Street Productions / Olly Courtenay)And it was down to Jenny's experience with the condition that prompted her to mention it to Call The Midwife's screenwriter Heidi Thomas, which then inspired an emotional storyline. The actress added: "Each year they are looking at the medical changes that happen and in our third series we were dealing with a year that cystic fibrosis, they could test and find out about it and I put that story forward to Heidi Thomas and she created the most wonderful story around a family that had CF."
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Earlier this year Jenny revealed that starring in the BBC show has meant she has avoided the need to go under the knife. She previously told Good Housekeeping magazine: "“Sometimes I look in the mirror and go, ‘Oh my God no. Sometimes I look at my chin, and think, ‘I could take a tiny little tuck there’, then I put my collar up or a scarf round me. A friend said to me recently, ‘You’ve got a great job at your age, playing a nun and wearing that habit’. It’s true – I can just tuck my face into it.”
Jenny went on to say that she was first told that she needed surgery at the tender age of 20 by her agent. She continued: "My eyes would get puffy due to water retention and they said, ‘You need to get rid of that’. Fortunately I didn’t do it. As an actor, you want to be able to use your face, not have it immobile."