Soap storyline angers spinal injury group

A SOAP opera storyline about a spinal injury victim contemplating suicide will cause more harm than good for those with such injuries, a support service claims.

Emmerdale character Jackson Walsh, who was paralysed in a road accident last year, has been showing signs of depression recently. It has been reported that he will get his boyfriend and mother to help him take his life by crushing tablets into his drink, although producers of the soap aired on ITV and TV3 have refused to comment on the storyline.

But Spinal Injuries Ireland (SII), which helps 9,000 patients and their families, says it is wrong to only show the negative impact of living with such an injury. It said it will distress individuals with a similar injury, particularly those in the early stages of their injury when they are at their most vulnerable.