Izzy Judd shares heartwarming video of her brother playing the horn alongside his carer

Izzy Judd shared a heartwarming video of her disabled brother Rupert playing the horn from his residential care home on Instagram on Tuesday.

In a bid to cheer other people up, Izzy, 36, wrote: ‘On this rainy day, here is some sunshine.’   

Rupert hasn’t been able to have visits from family and friends due to the coronavirus lockdown, but Izzy said his performances have been bringing joy to her family.

Izzy shared the video of her older brother, who suffered a serious head injury in a car accident in 1997, playing the French horn to the tune of He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands with his carer accompanying him on the electric keyboard.

She wrote: ‘On this rainy day here is some sunshine… Rupert and his kind and musical carer Andrew.

‘My family have received videos from Andrew most mornings with a new song from Rupert and it has helped so much to brighten up our days, especially to know Roops can enjoy what makes him happy.

‘Rupert’s brain injury meant he had part of his brain removed which now means he struggles with cognitive behavioural difficulties. However miraculously the part of the brain that controls long term memory and his musical ability wasn’t damaged.   

‘It is also a huge blessing that the only area of his face that wasn’t injured in the accident was his jaw meaning that he can still feel the sensation to play the horn.’

She continued: ‘Rupert was in his first term at the guildhall school of music when his life changed forever, but music lives on in him.

‘Music is keeping his spirits up whilst in complete lockdown due to the virus now being at his care home. 

‘My parents have asked our friends and family to send requests that Roops and Andrew can play for them. 

‘If you have any requests or if you would like Rupert to cheer someone else’s day up with a tune, let me know, especially for the key workers like Andrew who are our heroes #sunshineonarainyday #braininjuryawareness #healthheroes.’ 

In January, Izzy, who is married to McFly drummer Harry, admitted that she had ‘lost her way’ with visiting her sibling with the ‘sadness of it all just being too much in the midst of becoming a mum myself.’ 

She added that although he lives in a residential home with 24-hour care, Rupert can ‘light up any room’ and ‘finds humour in any situation’. 

Izzy also praised her parents in the touching Instagram post, writing that she has ‘so much admiration for my their love and strength’. 

She wrote: ‘As we drove home on Sunday I couldn’t help but find my thoughts turning to my parents, the emotion of it all feeling even more painful, to think of what they have been through and continue to go through must be unbearable, their first born, their son. 

‘Living with grief and watching Rupert living a life he wasn’t supposed to live, wishing they could change it and make it all better.’

The proud sister also wrote how Rupert is ‘an inspiration and a reminder to live life every single day’ and said she is ‘eternally grateful to Rupert for being such a fighter’.

Izzy could be seen embracing her big brother in the sweet snap of them outside a bowling alley, both with large smiles on their faces.

Violinist Izzy, who is mother to Lola and Kit, has spoken about Rupert’s brain injury before and wrote about him for the Daily Mail in 2017.

The younger sister, who also has brothers Magnus and Guy, explained how she believed Rupert’s accident was the ‘catalyst for me developing the anxiety.’

Izzy wrote: ‘On 7 February 1997, two weeks before my 13th birthday, everything changed. My eldest brother Rupert had an accident that has had a deep and lasting effect on my family, and I believe that this was the catalyst for me developing the anxiety that has been a companion for much of my life.

‘Rupert was 18 and studying at Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London. He was wild and charismatic, talented, energetic and full of life.

‘It was Rupert who gave me my nickname Izzy. My birth name is Brittany but when I was young Mum used to say a little rhyme to me: ‘Izzy whizzy, let’s get busy’. Rupert couldn’t say Brittany, so he picked up on Izzy and it stuck.’

Discussing the night of his accident, Izzy said that Rupert had been out with pals but later decided to drive to Somerset, which was two and a half hours away, to see one of their cousins.

After arriving at roughly 1am Rupert stayed for around an hour before heading back to Harpenden in Hertfordshire as he had a horn lesson at the Guildhall later that day. 

Izzy said: ‘Many days later, we learned that Rupert’s music teacher had left a message to say that the lesson was cancelled. But Rupert’s phone was out of battery and he never received it.’

She then explained that the family believe Rupert started driving back at about 3am and was only ten minutes from home when he drove into the back of an articulated lorry.

She said: ‘We think he probably fell asleep at the wheel but we’ll never know. He was dead at the scene but was brought back to life by a defibrillator.’  

After the accident Rupert had to give up his musical career and be cared for in a residential home.