Peter Kay has written a new ‘Car Share’ sketch to pay tribute to the NHS.
The 47-year-old comedian published a moving story in the book ‘Dear NHS: 100 Stories to Say Thank You’ – which features tales written by 100 celebrities – about his on-screen character John who has a cancer scare.
Speaking to cashier Kayleigh – played by Sian Gibson – John tells her about an MRI scan.
He says: "I went for a brain scan once … it was years ago, I kept getting these really bad headaches. My GP said it was sinuses, but being a proper hypochondriac, I thought: ‘B*******, what does he know?’ So I booked in for a brain scan."
However, John was left in tears during the MRI when he asked the nurse to play Simon & Garfunkel, but the first track that came on was the eerie ‘The Sound of Silence’.
He continues: "It got worse – in the third verse the lyrics are ‘silence like a cancer grows’. I was in tears. I was ashen when I came out."
Luckily, the sketch ends on a positive note with the doctors giving John the all clear.
The story is just one of the tales in the love story to the NHS as other celebrities, including Sir Paul McCartney, Emilia Clarke, Stephen Fry, Dawn French, Sir Trevor McDonald and Graham Norton, have penned their own stories.
Musician Ed Sheeran also added a chapter in the book to praise the NHS after they cared for his late grandmother.
He wrote: "I was lucky enough not to be on tour during my grandmother’s final months, and because I lived locally I was able to visit her every few days. The care she received was incredible; the people who worked there are so lovely, compassionate, funny and caring.
"When she passed away I wrote a song called ‘Supermarket Flowers’ about the situation. The verse lyrics are about packing up her room at that hospital.
"Me and my family became very close to the nurses who worked there and my mum is still in touch with them now. I see them from time to time when I’m in the area and it’s like meeting old friends."