RECUPERATING York musical producer and director Bev Jones has taken to the airwaves but not the air.

After a producer from Canadian national radio station CBC saw The Press’s front-page story on how a smile saved Bev’s life when he suffered a stroke, the musical theatre stalwart was invited last weekend to take a three-day visit to Canada to contribute to a programme on smiles.

Bev had to decline the whirlwind trip, on account of his on-going slow progression after the stroke, but nevertheless made his way to the BBC Radio Leeds studios on Tuesday afternoon to take part in an hour-long radio interview for CBC’s DNTO show.

“At the moment, that was quite a task for Bev’s damaged memory cells,” says his wife, Lesley. “A lot of patience was called for on all sides.”

After The Press was contacted by CBC producer Kaj Hasselriis, he was put in touch with Lesley, who takes up the story. “The radio chat was to be for CBC’s weekly storytelling feature, with next week’s theme to be entitled Smiles And What They Can Mean,” she says.

“Bev’s tale was spotted by CBC thanks to The Press story in January called ‘Saved By A Smile’, after Bev had suffered a stroke overnight, having suffered a most unpleasant fall in York city centre on December 6 when tripping over misplaced concrete slabs along Parliament Street.

“The first and only sign of something wrong had been an early-morning attempt at a smile to me, when I noticed a definite droop on one side of his face.”

Kaj and Lesley’s conversation progressed to discussing Bev’s musical feats. “Once he learned that Bev was a chorister at The Queen’s Coronation in 1953, and that Bev had written a symphony for The Queen, he realised there was another public interest story, connected to The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations,” says Lesley.

“I was able to send a recording of Bev singing in 1953 in York Minster when he was head boy, with Dr Francis Jackson at the organ, and also a recording of Bev now. He’s still able to sing, to professional standard, despite the high risk there had been of the surgeon unintentionally cutting into his voice box during his Carotid Endarterectomy operation.”

A combination of Bev’s recuperation from his stroke, the damage caused to the discs in his neck after the fall and the seemingly debilitating resulting symptoms led to the decision not to fly to Canada, but he is philosophical about ending up in Leeds instead “I got to 72 years of age before being asked abroad with regard to my life and music and I couldn’t go, but, hey, a trip to Leeds is quite exciting for me these days,” he says.

“I’ve just collected my new powered wheelchair, and soon I hope to get my road scooter so watch out York – Bev’s going to be back on the road again.”

And he still keeps smiling.