‘I would not have survived’: Stephen Hawking lived long life thanks to NHS

Scientist was defender of health service and attacked Jeremy Hunt for privatisation plans

Stephen Hawking was a longtime champion of the NHS, but it was a glaring slip in the media that provoked one of his more memorable interventions. As the Obama administration sought to reform the US healthcare system in 2009, the US Investor's Business Daily argued that Stephen Hawking "wouldn't have a chance in the UK, where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless".

It was duly pointed out that Hawking was not only born and educated in England, but received more care than most from the nation's health service. "I wouldn't be here today if it were not for the NHS," Hawking told the Guardian at the time. "I have received a large amount of high-quality treatment without which I would not have survived."