After Donald Trump made a controversial claim, former Great British Bake Off judge Mary Berry, who was a child with polio, has publicly expressed her opinions.
Following her polio-related childhood battle, celebrated baker Dame Mary Berry has revealed she won’t be drawn into debates about Donald Trump’s contentious vaccine remarks, but that she will be.
Trump made an unsupported claim earlier this year that autism is related to paracetamol use, which was later refuted by international medical organizations and professionals.
However, Trump’s powerful position allows for such assertions to quickly spread and have real-world repercussions despite lacking any factual support.
Medical professionals and influential political figures from around the world quickly refuted Trump’s claims about vaccines.
During an ITV appearance, Labour’s Health Secretary Wes Streeting declared: “I trust doctors over President Trump, frankly, on this. I’ve just got to be really clear about this: there is no evidence to link the use of paracetamol by pregnant women to autism in their children. None.
“So I would just say to people watching: don’t pay any attention whatsoever to what Donald Trump says about medicine. In fact, don’t take even take my word for it, as a politician – listen to British doctors, British scientists, the [National Health Service].”
The 90-year-old former Bake Off judge told Radio Times Magazine, “I am totally aware of what he]Donald Trump] said when discussing her position on vaccinations. Although I’m not getting involved, I’ll definitely receive all the vaccinations that are offered to me.
Mary, who left Bake Off in 2016, has openly discussed how she spent an extended hospital stay after learning she had polio when she was just 13-years-old.
Mary and her family were the subject of an ordeal that Mary described in her 2013 autobiography.
She responded, “I just couldn’t understand why Mum wasn’t coming in to comfort me and give me a cuddle.” They must have found it to be very upsetting.
However, the effects extended far beyond the parents’ inability to embrace her, with polio causing her spine to curve and leaving her with a weaker and less powerful arm and hand.
Despite what occurred, Mary says she was fortunate. She said: “I only had it on my left side and I’ve got a funny left hand. Everybody thinks I’ve got arthritis.
“I roll my pastry and have no other issues whatsoever, despite the fact that I look a little funny.” I mean, I wasn’t as good at sports as I was, but I was taken very lightly. I’m grateful”.
The polio jab was introduced in the UK in the 1950s and forms part of what the NHS describes as the “routine childhood vaccination schedule”.
Mary’s support for getting her annual jabs comes after the NHS urges parents to get their kids vaccinated against the flu this half-term as doctors warn of rising cases. Duncan Barton, the country’s chief nursing officer, expressed his concern about the spread of the flu this year, particularly among young people who might have the potential to transmit it to their older relatives.
He expressed concern that the flu has become more prevalent in children this year and has already struck us. Flu can spread like wildfire throughout schools and cause serious illness in kids.
“Vaccination is the best way to protect your child from serious illness because the virus changes every year,” says the company. “We’re making it easier than ever for kids to get the vaccine close to home or at school.”
Minister of health Stephen Kinnock also emphasized the value of adults getting vaccines to protect themselves and others, saying, “I’ve just had the flu shot myself because I know how much it can make.”
In other news, Mary Berry is set to grace our screens once again in the first episode of ‘Mary at 90: A Lifetime of Cooking’, airing tonight at 7.30pm on BBC Two.
