The recent news about bovine tuberculosis (TB) at Jeremy Clarkson’s Diddly Squat Farm in Oxfordshire, leaving the farm “absolutely devastated,” is a stark reminder of how infectious diseases still deeply affect both livestock and people today. TB in cattle is not solely a veterinary problem—it ripples out, touching communities and individual lives, as vividly depicted in the memoir, ‘Yet’: A Story of Triumph over Childhood Separation, Trauma, and Disability.
Harry Drabble’s story, told through the careful research and compassionate voice of his daughter Helen Parker-Drabble, brings home the human reality behind disease statistics. In 1937, Harry’s life was upended after contracting bovine TB from unpasteurised milk. He was taken from his family and endured years in hospital isolation, a childhood scarred by trauma but transformed by extraordinary resilience and his mantra: “I can’t… yet.” The emotional and social consequences for children and families affected by TB nearly a century ago echo in the very real distress felt by farmers and rural communities now facing similar outbreaks.
Clarkson’s public platform has brought renewed attention to the spread of bovine TB, the heartbreak of losing affected animals, and the burdens placed on those who care for them. Yet, as ‘Yet’ reminds us, behind every TB headline are stories of perseverance against adversity, families separated and changed by disease, and people who draw on hope and determination to survive and even thrive. The loss and anxiety experienced today would have been recognised by families like the Drabbles, whose suffering and strength during the early 20th-century TB epidemics often went unseen or dismissed.
Reading Harry’s journey alongside current events raises awareness of the past but also highlights the risks of antibiotic resistant bovine TB and the enduring impact of illness on lives. His story is a tribute to resilience and the power of “yet,” offering inspiration for those struggling with the consequences, emotional, economic, and personal, of disease outbreaks, then and now.
Read more about Harry’s story of trauma to triumph here
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