'Ordinary people doing extraordinary things' - I didn't know about the Corby case until latest Netflix series Toxic Town and was heartbroken at what I saw

WARNING - This article contains spoilers

After watching the first half of the first episode of Toxic Town, I didn’t know what to expect - but I was already hooked.

I didn’t do any research before I started watching it because I wanted to fully immerse myself and maintain an objective approach.

It was clear from the first scene that the series was based on true events.

As I binged through the episodes, I was shocked and heartbroken over the real life legal case in Corby that took 10 years to reach a conclusion from 1999 to 2009.

The series follows a group of 18 mothers fiercely fighting for justice for their children who were born with birth defects and disabilities as a result of the alleged toxic waste mismanagement by the Corby council.

The campaign was led by three women - Susan McIntyre (portrayed by Jodie Whittaker), Tracey Taylor (portrayed by Aimee Lou Wood) and Maggie Mahon (portrayed by Claudia Jessie).

Between 1995 and 1997, the three women gave birth to their babies and all three babies were born with birth defects; Susan and Maggie’s sons were born in August 1995 and July 1997 respectively with limb differences, while Tracey’s daughter, Shelby Ann, was also born in August 1995 but with a two-chamber heart, rather than a heart with four chambers and in heartbreaking scenes, she dies when she is just four-days-old.

While I’m a single woman with no children, I felt excruciating pain and emotion during the series. Their ordeal was hard to swallow.

The two key characters in the series were Susan and Tracey, who formed a strong bond and worked together to build a case against the council after Susan was approached by a journalist who made her aware that she was not the only one who had a child with a birth defect.

In a small community town like Corby, word got out and Susan and Tracey found 16 other mothers and their children with similar lived experiences.

The regular meetings they planned forged an impenetrable bond between the women and their children and I felt a surge of warmth as they worked together to fight against the injustice they faced.

In between episodes, I found out that in order to ensure that the actors in the series were portraying the story as accurately as possible, Jodie and Aimee both met the real mothers.

This explained how powerful the series was.

Along the way, we come across other characters that make this case extraordinary such as fictionalised whistleblower Ted Jenkins (portrayed by Stephen McMillan) who worked for the council but appeared on the stand to testify against it.

Ted was inspired by some of the real whistleblowers.

Another whistleblower is Sam Hagen (portrayed by Robert Carlyle), a councillor who received leaked documents as evidence of the council’s negligence.

He was based on the real Sam Hagen, who sadly died in October 2022, a year before they started filming the series. The series was dedicated in his memory.

Each of the characters had their own story to tell and it was very interesting to learn about them all.

What struck me the most about the story was not just the heartbreaking ordeal the mothers went through, it was also their determination, bravery and conviction that led them to unite and stand up for their children.

In particular, Tracey played a huge part in the success of the case and yet Shelby Ann was taken off the list of plaintiffs in the case at the last minute. That devastating moment was a defining moment.

She continued to stand up for the other mothers and their children and she fiercely stood up for her daughter on the podium too. I found her actions bold and very humble.

The incredible actions of Sam and Ted, and many others like them who use their prominent platforms to do the right thing and stand up for the people, make me believe that good people are powerful. That it is possible to do the right thing and succeed.

They sacrificed their jobs in the council in order to do what they believed was their job - protecting the town of Corby and its people.

Solicitor Des Collins was also a man I admired throughout the series. Again, he used his platform to fight for the women of Corby and he did it out of his own pocket.

He discovered through his own investigation that the birth defects in Corby were three times higher than in the wider area.

After watching the series, I was reminded that every bit of history we learn about is made up of ordinary people doing extraordinary things that stand the test of time.

Ordinary voices throughout history must be remembered and brought to light. Without them, we wouldn’t be here today.

Younger generations should aspire to be these people who break barriers and protect the people in their lives. This series is a stark reminder of that.

I commend every single person who was involved and I’m glad their story has been shared on this prominent platform.