This Morning viewers were moved when Bristol nurse Chloe Hammond appeared on the show with her mum to mark International Women's Day, as they celebrated her story. Chloe is one of few disabled nurses in the UK and was nominated by her mum Jackie.
Phillip Schofield surprised Chloe in the Bluebird Cafe, a coffee shop near the studio, before bringing her meet co-presenter Holly Willoughby for an interview. Phil said: “Despite being diagnosed with a rare disease at the age of 15. Chloe overcame countless challenges to become one of the only disabled nurses in the UK. We think she is an inspiration so we are going to celebrate her.”
Joining Holly and Phil on the sofa, Chloe revealed she was a huge fan of the show. Her mum went on to share her past struggles with viewers, Jackie said: "She has had so many set backs in life physically, emotionally with the traumas of being not invited to do things when she's applied to do things, just because of her disabilities and circumstances, whether that's in work or education. But she never gives up, and here she is, fully nursing and everything."
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Chloe has a wheelchair and an assistance dog that she has been financing herself because she wanted to progress quickly after being on a waiting list for "around three and a half years". Chloe said: "I knew how much they could help and I just didn't really understand how long the waiting list was and then Covid hit and all the waiting list became even longer.
"Then I had to shield because of all my illnesses, and it was so hard being locked away, literally in a one bedroom flat by myself, so my goal throughout all of that was to save enough money to buy a house and get a dog." Within weeks of Chloe moving into her home she contacted a breeder and quickly became the owner of her own assistance dog.
Holly and Phil announced to Chloe during their interview that they would be providing her £5k to cover the costs of her assistance dog and treating her to a spa day. The mother and daughter expressed their shock and tears of gratitude to Holly and Phil for their thoughtful gesture.
On social media, fans were left emotional. “Chloe just made me weep happy tears, for her to get her nursing dream is truly lovely," one said. Another added: "Big shout out to Chloe, she’s an inspiration to those of us who are disabled. I have Fibromyalgia and that alone can be so debilitating -incredible how Chloe and the rest of us can prove we can work and do most normal things too." "What an inspiration Chloe is and with such a beautiful soul," another said.
Speaking with BristolLive, Chloe said This Morning has helped her "more than they know". She said: "This Morning have helped me more that they know. Everyone is struggling with the cost of living but people don’t realise that a life saving mobility aid like Ocho is expensive.
"He’s another mouth to feed, another insurance, training, vaccines, leads/collars/vets etc. It all adds up. So being sponsored by this morning means he won’t miss out and I won’t have to make horrible decisions like should I vaccinate my dog or have dinner. Hopefully by being so publicly sponsored other assistance dog teams that are struggling financially can reach out and openly ask for support. This morning could be paving the way for these amazing animals."
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