The Repair Shop praised for ‘impossible’ restoration of late son’s instrument

The Repair Shop has been praised for its “impossible” restoration of a woman’s late son’s folk instrument.

The BBC One show took on the challenge to repair a Cretan lyra, a three-stringed pear-shaped bowed instrument, belonging to Emma MacLennan’s late son Alex, who died aged 31 after suffering from motor neurone disease (MND).

Alex, whose grandmother was from Crete, immersed himself in the island’s culture including learning the local dialect and teaching himself how to the play the instrument, until MND ended his ability to perform.

The upcoming episode documents the family’s story and the restoration of the lyra.

Ms MacLennan, from Kent, said: “It was very moving, because we lost our son to motor neurone disease, and in some way, having the lyra restored was a bit like having him restored.

“He was broken by his disease, but now something that meant a lot to him was back and functioning and could give voice to him again.

“I was amazed at the fact that they could restore it. It’s frankly something that seemed incredible to me. A very difficult thing to accomplish. So we were astonished, both me and my daughter.”

According to the NHS, MND is a life-shortening disease which causes muscle weakness that gets worse over months or years.

There is no cure but treatment can help manage the symptoms.

Ms MacLennan added: “It’s a really dreadful disease. It takes everything away from you. It takes your ability to walk, to use your arms, and eventually, to speak, to breathe, and not being able to breathe is what kills you.

“Mentally, if you can imagine, you’re just the same person, it’s just you’re trapped in a body that doesn’t respond to anything.

“So our precious son – who we absolutely adored, he was our best friend to all of us – we just watched him being tortured with his disease.”

Speaking about the programme and the repair by Becky Houghton, Ms MacLennan said: “It was absolutely fabulous. It was like walking into a huge group hug.

“The thing I love about the programme is that it’s so positive. It leaves you feeling good about humanity. It also celebrates reusing things in a throwaway world, and it celebrates human skill.

“We saw that with Becky Houghton, who repaired the lyra, something which I thought was unimaginably impossible.”

The lyra is now in the front bedroom of Ms MacLennan’s house “waiting” for their grandson to play it when he is older.

In the meantime, some members of the family have discussed learning how to play the instrument.

The Repair Shop episode airs on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Wednesday.

Members of the public can submit items to be repaired in future series by emailing Repair@ricochet.co.uk.