When I was about 12, I went to a 'kidney olympics' tournament where all the competitors had had a kidney transplant. One of my Dad's colleagues was running so we went as a family to support her. Jimmy Savile was the guest of honour and he was absolutely brilliant. He ran round with collecting buckets, signed hundreds of autographs, posed for photographs, presented medals, etc, etc. He was there all day and nothing was too much trouble for him.
After all the events had finished, he made a short speech to thank everyone and then asked if there were any children who still had enough energy to run round the track with him. Of course, we all did, maybe a hundred of us, for several laps. Absolutely loved it, what a fantastic time we all had that day, and Jimmy Savile was the main reason for that. Only now do I wonder about his motives for those last few laps of the track.
I'd really like to believe he was a caring man who genuinely loved children but perhaps didn't know how to express that love in a 'healthy' way - rather than a manipulative, predatory paedophile whose fame and charity work was an elaborate cover for a series of very unsavoury, and meticulously planned, activities.
But maybe I, like many of his alleged victims and I suspect lots of his colleagues too, was blinded by his celebrity status and am putting him on a pedestal that he doesn't deserve to be on.
