EastEnders star ‘blames himself’ for two year old’s sepsis death

2023-03-30

EastEnders star Jason Watkins shared the heartbreaking impact of the loss of his young daughter to sepsis while appearing on Good Morning Britain today.

The former Gerry Fairweather actor, 60, was in the studio to discuss new documentary Jason & Clara: In Memory of Maudie, which chronicles the aftermath of his two-year-old's death in 2011, while urging doctors to assess youngsters more thoroughly for signs of sepsis.

"It's hard isn't it for us as parents to feel that we… that's one of the painful things, is think, did we do everything that we [could've done]?" he said to presenter Susanna Reid. "It's easy to blame yourself, well I still do, because I was there when she was discharged the second time…"

Maude was not initially diagnosed with sepsis, which allowed her condition to fatally worsen.

Sat beside wife Clara Francis, Jason, who won the BAFTA Award for Best Leading Actor in 2015 for his role in The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies, went on to recall how Maude "had breathing difficulties" during her sepsis struggle, "which is a common symptom".

"Her eyes were rolling in the back of her head. Didn't they see what she was like when we came into A&E?" he questioned of medics.

"We are an imperfect family who have survived the worst thing that can happen to a parent. It’s indescribable, the sense of guilt, loss, the absence of your child, the light of your life is gone and you don’t know how you can go on."

Clara, who also shares children Bessie and Gilbert with her husband, chipped in with: "You think… if I had just been more vociferous and demanding, even though I didn't know what sepsis… I'd have stuck with my instinct that she was seriously, seriously ill, and not been so kind of… I don't want to say gullible – accepting, yeah."

After Susanna, 52, responded by saying she felt "very affected" by the couple's harrowing story, social media lit up with similar feelings, as one Good Morning Britain fan wrote: "Just feeling the utter devastation of Jason and Clara. No words."

"So brave of Jason & Clara to go on #gmb to talk about sepsis & the loss of their daughter," another person added. "The problem is getting GPs to not make you feel like a hypochondriac. Every toddler illness is a virus."

Two more messages read: "Very brave Jason and Clara and heart breaking. The documentary will no doubt bring awareness about sepsis and will save lives" and "Absolutely heartbreaking".

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