THE NEED FOR SPEED

Fast Show star Simon Day on why he's backing an ingeniously simple new scheme that could help save lives in medical emergencies, looking after loved ones with dementia... and why he'd like to spend more time on the road with his comedy colleagues

- James Rampton

SIMON DAY has created some of the most memorable characters in recent British comedy history: among them competitive dad, inspired by a father in his local swimming pool thrashing his kids in a race, and eco-warrior Dave Angel, "loosely based" on Mike Reid.

His latest role also has its roots in personal experiences too. Step forward James Ohene-Djan, a long-standing friend of The Fast Show star. James was a carer for his brother, Tony, who suffered from multiple sclerosis.

After Tony experienced difficulties in accessing the right sort of emergency care, James - a professor of computer science at Goldsmiths University - and his sister Louise, a professor of pharmacy education at University College London, came up with a game-changing new device called MiCode.

As Tony's life with MS neared the end, he became incapable of communicating with healthcare workers. This often rendered them unable to give him the correct critical care in time.

The complex health needs of their brother, and his inability to communicate properly, left James and Louise the only contact points across the health and social work teams. They were desperate to improve the chances of patients and to help emergency responders in future by ensuring people always have medical information with them.

Then they realised it could be carried digitally and they came up with MiCode, a bar-code that can be stuck on to any item of clothing or bag and easily read by emergency workers.

Closer to home, Day, now 62, has first-hand experience of the worry of looking after loved ones who may not be able to speak for themselves when it matters most.

"My father-in-law has Alzheimer's and my mum is now moving into Alzheimer's. But they're the lucky ones in that they have care," he explains.