Latest / Tom's Hirschsprung's Podcast / Episode 28 - With Louis Healy @healytymd

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Episode 28 - With Louis Healy @healytymd · Tom's Hirschsprung's Podcast

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You are listening to Tom's Hirshbrung's Podcast, where I provide a look into the
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remarkable experiences of the most inspiring people around Hirshprung's disease and sports. Hello and
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welcome to episode twenty eight of Tom's Hirshprung's Podcast. I have a very very
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special one for you today. My guest today is an actor and TV star.
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You may know him as Danny Harrington in Emmadale. You may know him
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as Billy Scanlon in a Hotel Portafino. You may know him as Adam in
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the Pact. But we'll know him today as Louis Heally. Louis, Welcome
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to the podcast. Thank you so much, Tom, It's amazing to be
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here. Thanks so much for having me. No, not a problem at
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all, my absolute pleasure. Thank you so so much for coming on now.
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We will talk about acting later on, so it won't just be all
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Hirshprungs for those tuning in. We will talk about acting, but i'd like
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to I'd like to start if I may, and start right from the beginning.
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Now. Something that not everyone may know about you is you were diagnosed
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with Hirshprung's disease hence why I was very, very keen to get you on
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the podcast, and I'd like to take you back obviously something you won't have
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remembered because you were too too young at the time, but your own parents
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would have done. I'd like to take you back right to the beginning.
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So diagnosed with hirshprungs, had surgery. It around sort of six weeks old,
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give or take. Take me to how your parents felt sort of that
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at that time. So for my parents, my mum at the time was
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in her early forties, so in terms of the other parents who were in
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there with her at the same time, she was one of the older ones
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and therefore she was having what she felt was more scans than usual, So
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of course that was in her head ensuring everything was okay. However, three
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days after I was born, it was apparent that I wasn't feeding, and
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then on that third day I threw up a lime green bile, which from
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a three day old baby is quite alarming. I was in Hope Hospital in
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Manchester at this point. They then took me to Special Care which they ran
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every test under the sun, including I believe is it a lumber puncture for
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meningitis? Also they were trying all sorts, and two weeks in I was
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sent to Older Hey, where I was diagnosed with Hirshbrung disease. And of
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course my parents were completely unaware of what it was, had never heard of
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it, and at the time, I'm not sure if the figure is still
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the same, but it was one in five thousand babies had Hirstbrung at the
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time, and herstprung just of course generally is where a part of the bowel
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doesn't form. But it was a really scary time for both my parents.
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I have a brother who's twelve years older than me, who didn't have any
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health complications when he was born, but my mum suffered quite severely with postonatal
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depression after my brother Matthew was born. So for her, the whole nine
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months of my pregnancy was a constant worry that she was going to suffer from
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that again. And then lo and behold, I was born and I was
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seriously ill. So, as you can imagine, as any parent would be,
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she was upsolutely terrified. But as I'm sure we'll touch on and talk
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about more later in the podcast, Older Hay were absolutely vital, not only
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in terms of getting me better. But the care that they provide for families
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and people closely involved with children or anyone who's staying over in a ward at
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Older Hay is really second to none. And there was a couple of times
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throughout the sort of two and a half years that I had Hirschbrum sort of
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until I was about two, there was a few times where my mum requested
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that we'd be taken back to Older Hay because she just felt so safe and
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secure there. But yeah, as you can imagine, it was a very
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scary time for both of my parents and they were very much thrown into,
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Yeah, the dealings of I suppose what takes place after your newborn is di
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knows with it with a severe illness. They were, they were there with
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me every day, and of course they both had careers at the same time,
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so it was it was a really challenging time for everyone in the family.
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Yeah, and I'm sure something that I've spoken to a lot of people
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who've had children with hirshbrungs and obviously going through that same sort of not quite
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knowing what's wrong. And as you said, you know, you had you
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know, issues feeding. It could be this, it could be that it
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could be the other and then diagnosed with something, especially something that's so difficult
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to spell as hirshbrungs is. You look at it and it's an alarming word
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to see, so especially something you know you can't be diagnosed with something that's
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easy to spell as well, which is really difficult exactly exactly so so obviously
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that they have all those those worries going on at that time, And you
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mentioned and you wanted to talk about just how good Older Hay were for you
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and your family, how much they'd cared for you, any sort of special
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requests or answered. Was there anything sort of specific that stood out for your
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parents at the time. It was the It was the human to human contact,
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you know, the relationships she built with the nurses and all of the
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people working in the hospital on whichever respective what I was on at any given
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time. It was the It was as I said, it was the relationships
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built between her and the as I said, nurses who were who were closely,
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who were closely with me at all times. I think that is something
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that my mum has always spoken so highly of at Older Hay, is their
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ability to, of course, while while making sure that all parents are fully
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informed of how serious their child's condition is, their ability to calm down the
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initial worries of a parent there just there. There are very people orientated hospital
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and in every sense of the word, and it's a real you feel very
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very safe in Older Hay when you're there. I went, I went there
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just a few weeks ago. Do it. I'm sure we'll talk on it
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to visit them. One of the new neonatal wards, and it has the
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feeling of a almost a community center for young people. It's it's the atmosphere
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in there is very much not that of your typical hospital, and it really
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does feel like a place where children go to get better, not to be
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sick, if that makes sense. So I know that that was as much
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as and I'm sure that there are various children's hospitals up and down the United
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Kingdom that provide excellent care and and are brilliant for Hirshbrung specifically, but it
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was it was the people at Older Hay that really were there too. You
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know, they were they were a shoulder, they were a shoulder to cry
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on. And also they were a completely open book. You know, there
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was there was never a time, whether it be at the busiest part of
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the day, at four am in the morning, if my mum woke up
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and she was staying in the excuse me that I can't remember the name of
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the the the I believe it's the sort of hotel I guess you could say
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that's attached to the hospital where the sort of accommodation that, Yeah, exactly,
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the accommodation. You know, you have the ability to to walk into
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the ward and and be with your child at their bedside at any given time,
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whether there's a nurse present or not. I think, to to to
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sum it up, it was it was the people at Older Hay that were
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the defining factor in sort of even just not only getting me over the line
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health wise, but making sure that my parents didn't go completely over the edge
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when you know, when they were, of course worrying that they've the child
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was going to survive. Yeah. No, definitely. I think that's something
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you touched on there. That's something that's so important that's probably not mentioned enough.
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People talk about hospitals and they talk about you know, I go there,
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I get better, I leave again. It's so much more than that.
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It's it's it's a lot of the care and a lot of the attention
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you receive and the relationships. And I know, and I know we'll touch
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on later, but your mum ran into one of the nurses that looked after
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you, still remembered her name, still remember what she looked like. And
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I know, from my point of view, with the doctors that looked after
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me, I still remember their names. I still remember the nurses, the
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doctors. It's just something that stays with you. And I think that that's
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something that's something that will stay with me for the rest of my life,
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and that's something will say with you for the rest of your life. Doubt
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the people that look after one I think. I mean, I spent more
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time with my mum at alder Hay in the first eighteen months of my life
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than I did anywhere else, at home or wherever. It was, so
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it was almost I guess, when you look back, essential that that parents
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like my mum in that situation are able to feel comfortable there in every sense
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of the word, whether it be literally comfortable in the accommodation they provide,
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or comfortable knowing that you know, as I said, my parents were both
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juggling very busy careers at the same time, so they made there was there
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was always a period a few days where my dad would return from London and
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he would come and stay with me and all day, and my mom would
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have to would go elsewhere. And it was just always, no matter what
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happened with my health, it was the knowledge that whatever was going on with
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me was what was best for me. If I was in older hate,
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my parents could they very rarely would. But if they had to leave me
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there for twenty four hours, you know, a day and a half and
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no one could be there, they know that they could get on the phone
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every two hours and even if, like I said, if it's three am,
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someone will be there ensuring you that everything's okay. And I can't stress
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enough how important the people who were there at the time, and no doubt
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the people that are still there now are to the families of the past and
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present, because they really were massive for us. Definitely, definitely that must
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be incredibly comforting as well, just to know that you're in the absolute best
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hands, the best hands possible. It was truly truly a blessing for us
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to have older hate. To be fair, because I'm not sure, I'm
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not sure how my mom would have coped. Bless her if you hadn't,
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if you hadn't had all the folks there, fantastic And if we just sort
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of touched on medical wise, you had surgery at six weeks six weeks old?
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Was he diagnosed pretty much from birth? Am I right in saying that?
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Yeah? Well I was three three days old when I was diagnosed.
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Yeah, so pretty much from birth. Yeah, that sounds a fairly sort
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of standard time in terms of hirsprung since surgery at six weeks and then back
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in around sort of twenty months or so, brushed in again rushing. Yes,
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it was just as everyone thought we were kind of getting over the line
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with it. It was all guns blazing again, and of course the sheer
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panic that that caused. Thankfully everything was able to be you know, me
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and I think the initial worry was a lot worse than the actual matter of
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the matter of the fact I was basically I was a lot more seriously ill
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when I was younger. However, it was definitely alarming after we thought we
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were over the hill again. Of course, as you can imagine, my
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memory of the time is is nil. But yeah, went back in for
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a second second surgery, I am and I believe that the that the scar
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from my second surgery is across my sort of lower torso as is the scar
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that has remained, and it's actually grown with with my as you can imagine.
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It's the length of sort of hip to hip. Yes, when I
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was three months old that was this size, and it's sort of the scar
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has grown with my with with my body. It's not it's not an eyesore
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at all. I actually think it looks quite cool. Yeah, yes,
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same with me. It's sort of from hit to hit, the pull through
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effectively lead Yeah, exactly, exactly. Yeah, So something in case anybody
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who doesn't is listening to this, who doesn't know about Hirshprung's disease, it's
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something that everybody with Hirshbrungs has. It's the pull through operation, absolutely vital
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for keeping you alive. And you do end up with a pretty cool scar.
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Yeah, you do. You're wearing the right pair of shorts. It
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can sometimes look like you've got those really defined V shaped apps. I obviously
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don't, but I like to pent well, yeah, yeah, absolutely go
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with it. Make it work for you. Why not? Fantastic. So
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we've kind of touched on the fantastic care you received at Older Hay and all
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throughout the sort of first couple of years two to and a half years,
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so last surgery was in and around sort of the two year mark. Just
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sort of how relieved I know you've talked a little bit about you were sort
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of out the woods, then back in the woods again and then obviously came
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out out the woods again. Just sort of how relieved were your parents at
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that time to know that you didn't need any more sort of major surgeries.
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Very very relieved, because of course, once you start getting to that age
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two three four, you start to that's when you're start starting to become a
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bit more you know, conscious as a child, And they were just worried
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about me having health complications leading into me going into school and whether it would
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affect, you know, my ability to be a normal if Incomma's kid.
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You know, there was all sorts of worry about colostomy bags and you know,
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how massively affected was my diet going to be for my whole life?
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Was I going to be able to enjoy a normal life of a teenager of
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wanting the odd McDonald's, and you know, all those sorts of questions started
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to come up. So when when it was finalized that you know, all
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things were going smooth, there was no reason why they would assume I would
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need to come back. It was just it was very nice for them to
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sort of, you know, wipe their hands of it and kind of move
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forward, because, of course, after my initial surgery, the next year
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of my life. Half of that time was spent worrying that something was going
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to flare up again. And then, as I said, we were just
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about getting to the point where it seemed things might be all clear. So
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of course very alarming to get called back in. But at that point my
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parents were so familiar with excuse me, with the process in terms of having
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a child with her with hirsprungs. They were I don't think they were introduced
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to that many new faces. It was the same people, the same team,
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the same part of the hospital. So it was very much like a
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oh, here we go again. But once it was in, once they
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were informed that obviously this isn't ideal and I'm going to have to have another
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operation. But it was less severe than my in terms of what the possible
17:15
complications could have been. But again, the incredible people at older Hay were
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able to, I guess, ease my parents into the sort of they were
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very the second time they went in. It was at first there was I
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think my mum just naturally couldn't help but be very, very worried, as
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if something has gone wrong, what's happening? You know, it was a
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lot more. It felt like much more of a matter of urgency because we'd
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spent so long ensuring that everything was fine, and it had been such a
18:00
long process of taking me as a small baby back to Older Hay in constant
18:06
checkups, and as I said, we were really starting to feel like we
18:08
were over the hills. So I think there was an initial freak out from
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my parents' side, but as I said, we we went, We went
18:19
through the process again. Older Hay were fantastic. I got had the surgery,
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got all stitched up, and from then on have lived a bowel complication
18:34
free life, which was probably unexpected. But whatever whatever work they did on
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me on that second surgery has worked an absolute treat because not to get not
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not to get to graphic with you, Tom, but I've I've never even
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had as much as a bit of blood in my thess. You know,
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it's it's literally been I had my appendix O when I was sixteen, but
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that's completely unrelated. It's it's been quite remarkable, really, it's fantastic.
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That's really really good to hear and just on that. And I know,
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I know this isn't a medical podcast as such. It's more of a personal
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stories and however, but I do get messages from people who have children who
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are six months one year old and they're going through a lot of the things
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that I imagine your mum went through at that time, and it's just really
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good to see. And again, everybody's different, and i'll premise that,
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but it is good to see that, you know, you get to two
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and a half and by and large you know, all clear, all good,
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So it is very much possible. Again, I don't take it as
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medical advice. I'm not a doctor, but it is good to see that,
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you know, you can go through these these stages at one, one
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and a half and then get to two and all. So if you are
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somebody who's going through that, you know, don't don't give up, hope.
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You know, it is very very important you keep going, keep going
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for your your child or children, and you know there are cases out there
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like Louis, who's you know, lives a very active, very successful life
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all through, you know, despite having having hirshprungs at the start. So
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just just on that that point as well. So we sort of moved past
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the sort of two and a half you mentioned, you know, some of
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having there what I call the train track scar across And were you aware of
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hirshprungs too much growing up or was it just kind of well, that was
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part of my life when I was younger, and I've kind of moved on
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as such. I was, I mean, I was definitely aware of hirshprung
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I was aware from from as early as I can remember. I was always
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aware that I had her sprung when I was born, and of course just
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through you know, hearing conversations in my family, and of course when you're
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you know, four or five years old, you don't really understand it.
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But I was. I was more than aware of the fact that I was
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unwell when I was a baby. I was aware that that's why I had
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my scar. I was I as well had I was very close with my
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cousins who were sort of one of them was three years older than another five
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six years older. So I was I was aware very early of oh i've
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what's this thing on my belly that other people don't have? That was something
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I remember a moment of asking my cousin Alex, who was probably about eleven
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at the time, what this Why have you not got a you know,
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where's your where's your scar? And it was it was off the back,
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it was off the back of that that sort of My mom and Auntie very
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sort of carefully explained to me what it was, and I was just as
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a kid, you know, just listening to them, but really I was
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just wanting thinking about where my action man was. I was just like,
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oh, yeah, cool, nice nice scart. Okay, cool, that's
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but I was. Once I got to about I guess maybe eight or nine
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years old, I was able to have a more i mean, for one
22:30
of a better word, coherent conversation with my mom about it. And then
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I think by the time I was thirteen or fourteen. Since then, so
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for the last ten years or so, every few years, my mom and
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I have done a visit back to older Hay. So it's been for the
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last sort of ten years since I was about that age, early teen,
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I've been much much more aware of what it is and kind of one to
23:00
be wanting to be educated enough on Hirschbrung so that so therefore I can do
23:07
things like this podcast and be a voice that's talking about it. Because still
23:12
today, you know, when you when you talk about Hirshprung or mention it
23:18
to someone outside of let's say your hospital or someone who hasn't dealt with it
23:22
immediately through their family or themselves, they go, hirsh what you know?
23:26
What what is that? And especially when people read it as you said,
23:30
it's it's it's a crazy one to read. So a lot of there's still
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generally not not a massive amount of awareness, that's true. Yeah, and
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it was it was always I was constantly telling friends and peers in school what
23:51
it was. And I remember there was small parts of biology where we were
23:55
studying the bowel, which I was quite excited about because I was able to
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kind of use my knowledge of Hirsprung and kind of that Again through the years
24:12
of just you know, going into older hay or having conversations with whoever it
24:18
was, it was something I was a bit more clued up on. So,
24:22
yeah, it's it's definitely been as I've gotten older, as most people
24:29
would probably expect, my knowledge of hirshprung has has gotten has gotten larger and
24:37
larger, to the point where now I feel like I sort of to an
24:42
extent, have a bit more of a formed idea of it. Sorry,
24:48
I feel like I'm going off on a bit of a tangent. No,
24:48
No, you're absolutely fine. You're absolutely fine. No, No, you're
24:53
the idea that as as you've got older, you've understood more, learned more
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and more importantly, I guess wanted to talk about it more and from being
25:04
so, as you said, the last fourteen years, going to visit the
25:08
Neonat Award in Older Hay and going to visit Older Hay and talk to people
25:11
about hirshbrungs. That can be really really powerful, you know, just to
25:17
know that you're not on your own and that there are people out there who
25:19
do have it, because and I know you're far braver than me on it,
25:23
because it took me about thirty years to start talking about it, and
25:26
I thought the best way to do that would be to start a podcast rather
25:30
than talk to anyone. But no, I think I think that's that's fantastic,
25:37
and I think we come from a similar point in the fact that we're
25:41
both advocates for positivity around Hirshbrungs and in the fact that yes, it is
25:48
it. Yeah, there are parts of it that aren't very nice, and
25:51
there's no getting away from that necessarily, But it's not to say you know
25:55
that you can't go and have a fantastic, fulfilling in looible life slash career.
26:02
Absolutely absolutely, I think I would love and I would absolutely love if
26:10
if people, you know, saw people like ourselves as an example of that.
26:15
You know, it was just yeah, as soon as as soon as
26:19
I was informed about the opportunity to do this podcast, it was just absolutely
26:23
something I was just felt totally compelled to do. And when going back and
26:30
listening over a few of your podcasts before, just want to express my admiration
26:33
for you and how much of a of a brilliant thing generally just you're doing
26:38
in terms of making this podcast and getting the fantastic guests you've had on so
26:45
far to talk about their their health and their and their lives and just like
26:53
like we said, spreading awareness and making sure that people know that you know,
26:56
you are really not alone and this is a thing. That's much as
27:00
a lot of people might not have heard of it, there are just as
27:03
many people who have and who aren't dealing with it, whether it be with
27:08
themselves or with a family member. So it's just I just yeah, I
27:12
just wanted to say hats off to you for everything you've done. Then,
27:15
well, thank you so much. That's that's incredibly kind. And obviously it's
27:19
not just me. I couldn't do this without my guests. I'm useless on
27:22
my own. I tried. I tried to do one episode on my own.
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It felt like I was talking about four hours. It was only ten
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minutes. So I need guests to survive. Absolutely need guests. So no,
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but thank you so much that that means, that means an awful lot.
27:40
I want to talk as well, just just very briefly, go back
27:42
to the older Hay and the neonatal ward. You visited the natal ward about
27:51
a month ago give or take to watch the progression of a new neonatal ward,
27:56
and you and your mum went back. How was that? It was
28:03
absolutely incredible. I mean, you'll have to bear with me on this because
28:07
my technical vocabulary in terms of being able to talk about what they were actually
28:12
doing in there is probably going to be very limited, but the advancements they
28:18
have made across everything into you know, I mean what they're doing at OLDA.
28:26
Hay, not just in the neonatal ward, but we also were able
28:29
to have a look inside what they called back Cave, which is a large
28:33
part of the hospital which they are using to do research on things like AI
28:38
and how VR that they're already using virtual reality surgery to train surgeons that they
28:51
are operating in VR and then practicing and then going and doing this operation,
28:56
and they already used that system. So there was a girl with I saw
29:03
a real life model that she had one of the worst spinal tumors that the
29:07
hospital had ever seen. And when they first scanned it, it was deemed
29:11
that this poor child was going to have to just live with it. You
29:15
know, tumor was way too big. It was wrapped around the entire bottom
29:18
of her spine. And what they were able to do with Older Hay is
29:22
over the course of a few months, a group of surgeons were able to
29:26
go into what they called the back cave. There will be an official name
29:30
for it, that's what it was referred to to me. So I apologize.
29:36
They were able to take a team of surgeons into that facility and strap
29:41
them all on with virtual reality headgear, and over the course of a few
29:44
months they did they operated on the tumor on that child's spine in obviously a
29:53
VR, so they were practicing and they must have done. They did the
29:57
surgery over and over and over and over and over again to the point where
30:00
they felt confidently being able to do it. And after being told that she
30:04
would have to live with that tumor, that child now has less than one
30:07
percent of the tumor still remaining on her spine. So through something like virtual
30:14
reality, they were able to completely change someone's life, even post some kind
30:21
of diagnosis. You know, they didn't think they were going to be able
30:26
to help her. And that is just one example of the incredible advancements that
30:30
they are making in terms of using our new technologies so being able to and
30:37
as you can imagine, of course, they are using similar things to advance
30:45
their care for bowel related conditions, so things like her sproun. It was
30:52
incredible, incredible to see and so you know, especially with regards to all
31:03
of the kind of I guess press that the healthcare system in the UK has
31:11
received over the past I don't know four years. To go into a hospital
31:17
and for not only for the atmosphere to be so positive, but for all
31:19
of the work they are doing to be so positive and so forward thinking.
31:26
It was just really, really really inspiring to see. And it's a good
31:33
thing for people to remember. As much as there is a lot of rubbish
31:38
happening in terms of the NHS and how they're being treated generally, there is
31:44
still so much brilliant work being done by our nationalth Service and they've just been
31:51
absolutely swamped since since the dreaded word coming up, but since COVID, it's
32:02
really changed the face of how a lot of these hospitals can even try and
32:06
operate. So getting able being able to go into older hay and see that
32:10
they are moving forward so much in so many ways was as I said,
32:19
really inspiring. And that's and that's just me talking on what I saw in
32:22
terms of, you know, the technology in the equipment that they're using.
32:27
I've not even talked about how how how kind of I guess the only word
32:35
I can think to describe it was the new neonatal ward. It was it
32:39
was a really lovely environment. It was. It was, it was kind
32:46
of beautiful. It was so not what you think of when you imagine a
32:53
hospital ward. And it often feels when you go into a hospital that not
33:01
much in terms of how a ward may be designed is done through the guise
33:08
of the mental wellbeing of the patients. They're never usually the nicest places to
33:15
be all the hay, it's the complete opposite, you know. I found
33:23
myself, certainly in the neonatal ward anyway, kind of wanting to hang out
33:29
there. You know, you walk through the hospital and they've got gorgeous sort
33:32
of gardens and you know, it was it was. It was quite a
33:37
rare, very sunny day in Liverpool, so maybe maybe maybe that helped boost
33:42
the vibe a little bit. Now I'm kidding, but yes, I just
33:47
as I said before, it really had the atmosphere of a community center,
33:55
you know, rather than it was bustling and there was you know, just
34:00
around the large welcome area it's there was. It was just not what not
34:07
not your usual scene from a children's hospital. It was happy, families scattered
34:15
and you know children, you know, obviously safely, but children sort of
34:22
playing and milling around and you know, food stands and places for parents to
34:30
come and get lovely food and drink, and just the atmosphere that they have
34:34
created there is one that I believe every children's hospital in the world, if
34:37
they can, should take a leaf out of alder Hayes book, because,
34:40
as I said, the the atmosphere of a hospital can often be can often
34:52
it can, it will it can it can make or break some families.
34:57
As I said before, I know for a fact that it was the positivity
35:00
in the warmth that my mum received from the nurses at oldah Hay that stopped
35:05
her and just absolutely going over the edge with worry about about her child.
35:12
And I can't stress enough how much that has kind of that is in the
35:20
DNA of Oldahay because it seeps throughout the entire hospital and there's just an overbearing
35:27
feeling of positivity and this is getting better rather than the opposite. I was
35:35
just so it was a number of years since i'd last been back, and
35:37
it was my first time since i'd been since I was about eighteen, and
35:40
I'm twenty three now, so obviously I'm a bit more grown up, and
35:45
it was I just thought it was so kind of inspiring. Yeah, no's
35:55
that's lovely. That's really really lovely to hear, because I think I know
36:00
when people mentioned the word hospital, they automatically have that sort of feeling in
36:05
their head and they think they think they know what a hospital looks like and
36:08
it's doom and gloom and whatever. But it is so so lovely to hear
36:14
that when you went back, that everything was just so positive and people were,
36:21
you know, a community feel. I think you put it perfectly when
36:27
you said, you know, people are there and yeah, okay, that
36:30
they might be going through all sorts of things, but the fact that they're
36:32
so positive is that is so good to hear. You wouldn't know. That
36:38
was the thing that I was thinking to myself when I was looking around.
36:43
There was a point where we were stood on We were in a corridor that
36:49
was overlooking the main welcome area, and it was tons of families with kids
36:55
of all ages, all interacting or playing or just relaxing. And I thought
37:04
to myself, most, if not all, of these families are probably going
37:07
through something really horrible right now, yet this hospital has created a space for
37:15
them where they can be in the hospital and still forget about all of that
37:21
and it's just incredible, really, it really is. No, I'm so
37:25
glad you brought that story up because that that is that's so fantastic to hear.
37:31
And there will be many people who have contacted me, many people probably
37:37
listening to this podcast right now who are going through things like that or about
37:40
to go into hospital or are currently in hospital, and that that is so
37:46
so heartwarming to hear. So thank you, thank you so so much for
37:51
that. And just to touch on Older Hay as well, I know your
37:54
mum's a patron of Older Hay as well. What does that kind of an
38:00
entail It entails, well, we like to we like to visit regularly.
38:09
We are always we are always in the know in terms of in terms of
38:15
any major changes that are happening at Older Hey, if there is ever any
38:21
kind of I'm not sure if event is the right word, but I think
38:25
mum has been incredibly proud to be a patron for Older Hay ever since they
38:32
were so vital in the early years of my life. And to be perfectly
38:37
honest, and I probably I probably can't answer that as well as she would
38:44
have liked me to. When she definitely listens to this but I want oh,
38:51
I can tell you one thing that it entails. So my she's a
38:55
patron of the Abilities in meant and they release children's books. Often the book
39:05
will be about a certain conditional illness. And one of their recent books by
39:13
Jemma Kea. Sorry, I'm just reading off my phone here as well,
39:15
so I am just so it's cool. It's not video. We can we
39:20
can we can, we can fudge that out. It's fine, Okay,
39:22
great, So Abilities in Me, Yeah, they're Their latest book by Jemma
39:28
Kea is about Hirstbrung disease. Now there's a series of these called they're called
39:32
The Abilities in Me And as I said, it's a series of children's books.
39:37
I'm not sure if they are all by Jemma Kea, but I know
39:39
this one definitely is. And they are books aimed at children probably of just
39:47
getting to reading age, if not younger, with illustrations as well. That's
39:52
sort of in a way that's a lot more easy to understand for a child.
39:58
Talks through, talks through whatever there is whatever their condition is that that
40:05
specific book is about. And I know you said it's not video, but
40:07
I'll just show it to you anyway. Jimmy spelled K E I R.
40:13
For anybody who wants to pick up the book. Yeah, that's the abilities
40:16
in me and this is the Hirsbrung disease version I'm just looking through. That
40:29
sounds like a fantastic initiative. Really does sound like a tremendous absolutely absolutely brilliant
40:36
And that is something that I wish I actually had a physical copy of it
40:39
now, because I know that somewhere I've we had we had a couple of
40:45
them. I remember looking through them about a year ago. But to touch
40:51
on what that entails from my mum, I guess being a voice who's always
40:57
prepared and willing to talk about hirst Brung, someone who she is always incredibly
41:09
keen to go down to older Hay at any given opportunity. We would probably
41:14
go more if they would let us. And I guess just being a general
41:20
person in the public eye who, as I said, is well she's experienced
41:27
it herself through her child. So I know that my mum does receive the
41:30
occasional Instagram direct message from someone whose child has just been diagnosed with Hirsch Brown
41:36
And hopefully off the back of this podcast, maybe by the way, for
41:38
anyone who doesn't know my mum is Denise Welch TV presenter and actress, So
41:45
it's I think being a patron for Older Hay. It was almost just it
41:54
was almost an innate thing because they'd been so vital for us and so crucial
42:01
that as soon as they ever ask my mum or dad, we're now in
42:07
the last few years myself to go down and attend or you know, post
42:14
something or share something it's been and as I said, we've been absolutely compelled
42:22
because of our admiration for Older Hay. Again, there is almost definitely a
42:30
lot more that being the Old Hay patron entails that my mum would be able
42:35
to tell you, Yeah, she'd probably be able to give you a forty
42:38
five minute long answer. Knowing her well, she's welcome for her own pod
42:44
carst episode if she's ever available. Oh well, I'm sure she'd absolutely love
42:47
it, especially after listening to this. I mean she near enough, she
42:52
near enough did a mini podcast to me when I just asked her to help
42:54
me with the first initial couple of questions. A lot of the info I've
42:59
been going back to you today has come from her, So Mum, I
43:02
know you're listening thank you very very much. Awesome, that's fantastic and what
43:08
a lovely, lovely tribute to older Hay as well. And just as we
43:13
sort of whind towards the sort of back third of the podcast, I'd love
43:16
to switch gears if I may, and talk about your acting career, because
43:22
obviously you are you are an actor. You come from as we've mentioned,
43:25
your mum is Denise Wels, your dad is Tim healy So, and your
43:30
brother Matty is in the band nineteen seventy five, so you do come from
43:35
a very famous family lineage in show business. And i'd like to if I
43:40
may just ask start by asking you was acting always the plan? Well,
43:50
I'm not sure if at twelve years old you have many plans other than going
43:59
out playing footy in the park, but I think for me it was as
44:05
everyone is when whatever your parents do, it's the thing that you are exposed
44:08
to the most is a kid. So once some of my earliest memories are
44:15
at two thousand and five, my dad was in the original West End caster
44:19
of Billy Elliott, so I spent four or five months in London going and
44:23
watching him on stage every night. You know, by the time I was
44:29
old enough to be aware what TV was and that it wasn't real life.
44:32
It was clear that my parents, you know, were actors. It was
44:36
just as so often is the case, you know, a lot of the
44:38
time, kids following the footsteps of their parents, whether it's directly into a
44:44
family business or whether you become a dentist because your dad was a dentist.
44:49
I think that is ultimately what what took place. I'm not sure. I
44:55
wouldn't say it was always a plan. I think I started getting into it
45:02
in school when I was probably eight or nine, you know, started to
45:07
do the Nativity, and then I think we did the Lion King in my
45:10
end of primary school play, and then my interest in that sort of sparked
45:16
me wanting to start going to maybe it was like local musical theater companies and
45:24
drama societies. I went to something called Tempo, which was a sort of,
45:30
as I said, an amateur dramatics and musical theater company. I then
45:36
moved to high school when I was eleven and started getting more involved with musical
45:40
theater there, and when I was about twelve, it was suggested to me
45:49
and my parents through one of the weekend music and acting classes I was going
45:55
to that. I auditioned for a Manchester base acting agency called Lane Management,
46:02
who represent a lot of the kids who are in the odd episode of Coronation
46:08
Street or you know, things like that. So it was when I was
46:14
about twelve I got my first agent, which then led to me auditioning for
46:20
the full Monty on the West End for the character of Nathan. Of course,
46:25
not one of the not one of the blokes. No, that would
46:30
have been questionable at twelve, yeah, very But and then from then,
46:38
I mean that was my Yeah, that was That was one of the first
46:45
professional auditions I ever went to, and that sort of snowballed into me starting
46:54
to start starting in the industry again. It was such a it was such
47:00
there was such a lack of a plan that I guess it's hard for me
47:04
to remember all the pieces clearly going back. But it was very much a
47:08
natural progression of me enjoying it as a kid. When I was really young,
47:15
teachers went often I would say I had a wild imagination and I was
47:22
constantly there was always a sort of narrative to the as is with all kids,
47:30
but you know, there was always a story to the toys. I
47:34
was playing with or if I was playing football, I was always pretending to
47:37
be whatever my favorite Newcastle player or was it started. I was an imaginative,
47:45
quite hyperactive, very performative child. I would every night after my dad
47:54
came off stage from Billy Elliott, to his delight, I would then sit
48:00
down for two hours and sing all of the songs to him after he'd just
48:02
done them himself eight shows a week, so thanks dad for putting up with
48:07
that. I would put on a little hard hat and a hive Y's Best
48:10
and I would do all the choreography, and I was It was very clear
48:16
from a young age, certainly to my parents, who of course were both
48:21
well established in the industry by that time, that I was a performer.
48:24
That's what they thought. My dad had seen the negative side of what can
48:30
happen to kids who get into the industry too young. Though often if when
48:35
it becomes a job for these young actors before it truly they're old enough for
48:38
it to become their passion. Is so often the case of what happens when
48:45
kids will start, like I said, start off really young, and then
48:47
by the time they're sixteen, they're bored. They don't want to do it.
48:52
It's and that to an extent happened to me a little bit because I
48:58
was started so young that it was definitely me a job for me before it
49:01
was my full passion, because I mean, what can you be fully passionate
49:06
about at thirteen years old? But it was always from the age of about
49:13
seven years old. I think my parents would be in agreement that there wasn't
49:16
many other lines of work that I was probably going to go down. True,
49:22
I'll pick up on one thing you said, as you're a Newcastle fan.
49:25
Yes, so you might see in the background I have a picture of
49:29
Saint James' Park and because I am also a Newcastle fan, so you support
49:35
the right. Oh, no way, I'm just noticing that now. I
49:38
can't believe I didn't see all those two shirts. You're lucky that I didn't.
49:43
You lucky that I didn't, because I would have. I would have
49:45
been too giddy. So, oh my goodness. Well, if we weren't
49:53
best friends already, we are now we certainly are. Connection. Where's the
50:00
new from me? From the age of four Alan Shearer when he moved from
50:06
Blackburn's and Newcastle for a world record fee, and have been ever since.
50:09
So yeah, no, we we we have that. If nothing else,
50:14
we have that in hirshbrunt, nothing else revelation. God, I wonder I
50:19
took I took these off, so no wonder I didn't notice the shirts behind.
50:22
Yeah, it's all there. After many a year of pain, finally
50:28
we're having some good times. Eh, well we'll well, we'll see,
50:30
we'll see get stung by f FP. But anyway, we're we're digressing.
50:37
Downtrack and I were well aware we're running short of times, so I did
50:44
want to ask as well, Acting wise, did you have played a variety
50:47
of characters from sort of people like Billy Scanlon he's quite a quite a nice
50:52
chatter, gets sort of lost in in sort of the wrong crowd, and
50:59
people like Danny Harrington, who's not a very nice chap. I just wanted
51:06
to ask. It's something I tend to ask actors a lot. Do you
51:08
prefer good guy or bad guy? Or does it matter? I mean,
51:17
I'm not sure if I have a preference. The thing is, it's quite
51:24
it's quite often in my in my experience, I would say it's some.
51:30
It can probably be a bit easier surprisingly to play a bad guy because a
51:37
lot of those characters. They The reason someone like Danny Harrington ends up being
51:45
the way he is is usually because, of course, unless you're playing a
51:51
sort of sadistic, very calculated, I don't know, psychopath, a lot
51:55
of the time, if you're playing someone like Danny who's just a bully,
52:00
they don't tend to have that much going on up there. They're not usually
52:05
the most complex people. They're usually, especially as a teenage boy, insecure,
52:13
fed up about something else in their life, and that comes out as
52:15
them being an antagonistic sort of a brace of you know, I'm going to
52:21
be the matro man. And it's actually it's not that hard to well for
52:27
an act, for an actor anyway, to kind of to kind of get
52:32
to those places to get the right performance. I mean, almost everyone's had
52:38
an interaction with someone like that throughout their life, whether it be in school,
52:44
or whether it be in work, or whether it just be in a
52:45
supermarket queue. You know, everyone's come across a sort of bullyish character.
52:53
So I think in terms of finding a little I don't know the nuances of
52:59
it, it's definitely, in my opinion, easier to play a quote unquote
53:04
Baddie as opposed to someone who's a quote unquote goodie, because there's often there's
53:12
just that there can be I often find there's a bit more I have to
53:16
try and figure out behind the character if it's someone who's really good and also
53:23
I don't know, it's a difficult question. It's a difficult question to answer
53:29
because of course as well, every role can can throw a multitude of different
53:36
things at you. And in the context of Emma Dale, for example,
53:40
Danny was a pretty easy character to get your head around. You know,
53:47
he's doesn't have a nice life at home and therefore is a bully and has
53:52
turned to sort of selling drugs, you know, one of those ashamed of
53:57
nothing, offended by everything sort of people. Whereas Billy Scannon, for example,
54:01
especially in the first couple of seasons, was such a just you know,
54:07
sweet young lad who doesn't say much else than yes, ma'am, no,
54:13
ma'am. Finding moments to make Billy still an interesting character was actually quite
54:20
hard because when the script is really giving Billy nothing, you've got a sort
54:25
of picky moments, whereas with Danny, it's like, oh, here he
54:30
is, you know, being really mean to the poor girl who fancies him
54:37
it's it's basic based on the script as well, I suppose. Yeah,
54:42
I hope that's a cracking insight. Yeah, that's a cracking insight into interacting
54:47
with me. I have no experience of acting at all, and knowing you
54:52
know, the ins and the outsol just a little bit you provided there is
54:55
absolutely fantastic. Thank you so much for that, and I guess as we
55:00
wind towards the end, my my final question to you really is that season
55:07
three with Hotel Portafino has just been announced, and apart from that, I
55:13
guess without without giving any spoilers because I don't want acting companies to sue me,
55:21
but what does the future hold for Louis Healy? Well, I wish,
55:25
I wish I knew exactly what the future held for me, Tom Very
55:31
it's especially with the point I am now in my career, it's it's touch
55:36
and go, you know, and I'm auditioning as often as I can.
55:39
I have to say, since after after COVID, there was, as you
55:45
might have been aware of, there was industry wide strikes that started off with
55:50
the writers in America. That was, to use an analogy, I mean,
55:59
that was a pretty big gut punch to the industry, and it almost
56:05
feels like we're still recovering from it a little bit. You know, the
56:08
industry still winded, and there is even still a backlog of projects that were
56:13
meant to take place in twenty twenty twenty twenty twenty one, but because of
56:17
what happened with the world, we're massively pushed back. I am currently in
56:24
the process, well currently in the final rounds of auditions for a very exciting,
56:30
high profile play on the West End. I can't name any names because
56:36
of confidentiality, but you might be able to work out what that is.
56:42
It's one of the larger productions going on on the West End at the moment,
56:49
and it's affiligated to something TV show that lots and lots and lots of
56:55
people know about and have seen. So I'm I'm pretty sure I can't get
57:00
in trouble for saying that much. Other than that, Hotel Quatafino season three
57:07
is coming out soon. We are just waiting to get the go ahead for
57:10
season four. That has been an absolutely beautiful job for me. I mean,
57:16
we get to film in Croatia for three months, which is like,
57:22
I mean, come on, it's hard to call it a gig. To
57:24
be honest, when your days off are spent on a by a pool,
57:30
you think, God, am I what did I do? What did I
57:32
do? Deserve this? Well, yeah, I guess yeah, But in
57:43
terms of things directly in the pipeline that I'm allowed to merely mention, unfortunately,
57:49
there is zilt right now. But that doesn't mean there is zilt d
57:52
all in all, So keep your eyes peeled. And again, I despite
57:59
the fact that I've all where, it feels like I've already done quite a
58:00
bit. Starting your career at thirteen years old is pretty rare, and had
58:06
I just come out of drama school, I would be my age now and
58:09
probably have never done one thing. So I am very, very very much
58:15
still at the very beginning of this career. I mean I haven't even transitioned
58:20
into being able to play adults. I think the oldest character I've played was
58:24
Billy in Season three because he just turned twenty. So patience, perseverance,
58:32
and also any other young actors that are listening to this, I am still
58:42
now at twenty three, even if I hadn't done anything prior, I feel
58:46
like my career is just the beginning as we speak, I'm getting to more
58:52
of an age where I can play a more of a diversity of roles,
58:57
and I'm so so so to have already had the experience of, like you
59:02
mentioned, playing someone like Danny compared to Billy. I also did an episode
59:08
of Vera where I played one of the lead roles, which was a young
59:13
kid called Tyler who murdered his own brother in gang related cold blood and he
59:20
was only fifteen and he wasn't a suspect for most of the episode, so
59:24
it was that was really interesting playing this kind of cunning, deceitful young criminal.
59:34
I'm just trying to be a sponge every time I'm on a set and
59:39
taking in everything i can from the actors i'm working underneath or alongside, and
59:45
just just rolling with the punches and most importantly, absolutely loving every minute of
59:53
it. Every time I'm working, I feel so fortunate to be able to
1:00:00
do my hobby as a job. Yeah, I would do it for free
1:00:06
if it wasn't my job, So the fact that it is is an absolute
1:00:10
blessing. And I think that anyone who is able to make an income through
1:00:16
anything that they would do regardless, should count themselves extremely lucky. I echo
1:00:23
that absolutely, and thank you so much for sharing all of that, and
1:00:30
best of luck for all of those projects that we can't name. And just
1:00:36
one more thing, just really quickly, where can people find you? Where
1:00:38
can they keep up to date with all of your progress and going on?
1:00:43
Instagram is my main form of social media. I have to say, I'm
1:00:46
i'm in terms of social media, I'm probably a bit more reclusive than your
1:00:53
average twenty something. Sorry, I just thought someone knock on the door.
1:01:00
It's probably a package being delivered. So yeah, Instagram is my main form
1:01:06
of social media. My my username is Healey h E A L y T
1:01:13
y m D. That's my username on Instagram. I guess that that that's
1:01:21
where that's where you can keep up to tabs with with what I'm up to.
1:01:24
I mean, annoyingly. My mum's Instagram is also a great place to
1:01:30
keep tabs with what her kids are up to. She loves posting about us.
1:01:36
But I'm sure, yeah you can. You can pop my Instagram in
1:01:39
the description for the podcast and if anyone wants to give me a follow,
1:01:43
keep up to date with what's going on on there. And that's that sort
1:01:47
of it. Really, I kind of like to as much as I can
1:01:51
let the let the work speak for itself. My favorite actors in the world
1:01:55
and never on a tabloid. They're never doing a story on Willem Dafoe is
1:02:00
never doing a story on his Instagram. You know, hey, guys in
1:02:04
my new skincare it's I do feel like it's a little bit of your responsibility
1:02:09
as an actor to allow the public to be able to believe you on screen
1:02:14
when they see you. And if you're constantly posting on social media like here's
1:02:17
me doing this, here's me doing that, it takes away that layer.
1:02:22
A great example is Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the most famous actors in the
1:02:25
world. However, when he's on screen, you see him as whatever role
1:02:30
he is playing. You don't see the celebrity, if that makes any sort
1:02:34
of sense. Yeah, not that. I'm not that I'm trying to comparing
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yourself to leon I'm really not that pretendiously promise, I promise I am not
1:02:47
definitely let k fabe live exactly, but no, I just want to say,
1:02:52
from from the bottom of heart, thank you so so much for doing
1:02:57
this interview, for everything you do at Older Hay, for being a great
1:03:00
advocate of Hirshbrungs. It's been an absolute honor to have you on. It's
1:03:06
been such a pleasure, Tom, And let me reiterate that, thanks to
1:03:07
you for all of your exceptional work, because just just having this, this
1:03:13
podcast being out there is just it's brilliant. It's just absolutely it's absolutely brilliant,
1:03:19
and it's and it's essential. And I'm so I'm so pleased that I
1:03:23
was someone you wanted to have on and as I said, it was it
1:03:25
was a complete honor, and hey, why don't we why don't we do
1:03:29
another one of these in the future. Why not? I would absolutely love
1:03:31
to it would it would be my pleasure. Thank you so much, Thanks
1:03:36
so much, Tom. Thank you for listening to the podcast. Find us
1:03:43
on Instagram Tom's Underscore Hirshprung's Underscore podcast. Listen to previous episodes on Spotify by
1:03:50
searching Tom's Hirshbrung's Podcast