EastEnders star Natalie Cassidy has revealed that her nine-year-old daughter Joanie was rushed to hospital after breaking her arm for the third time. The 43-year-old actress, who plays Sonia Fowler on the soap, said the incident left her close to a 'nervous breakdown'. Joanie slipped over before her PE lesson at school, and her bones were left 'in pieces'.
Recent Surgery and Recurrence
Joanie had undergone surgery just eight weeks ago to remove metal plates from her arm following a previous break. The latest fracture occurred at school, and she was taken to A&E. Speaking on her podcast Life With Nat, Cassidy said: 'I'd done a little bit of work in the morning at home. Marc went outside, put the paddling pool up, cut all the grass - thinking we're going to have a few days, like a mini holiday, at home. Then the phone rang. She slipped over in the hall, before doing PE. I'm speechless. It's so traumatic.'
Emotional Toll on Mother
Cassidy described her emotional state: 'I felt I was going to have a nervous breakdown, actually. I'm being really honest here. I really fell to pieces. I was not in a good place. Just her little body – and the medication and the trauma of it all.' She shares Joanie with fiancé Marc Humphreys, and is also mother to 14-year-old Eliza from a previous relationship with Adam Cottrell.
Medical Investigations
The soap star expressed concern that Joanie might have a deficiency, but full blood tests came back normal. The consultant told her: 'I do think it's just really bad luck.' Cassidy praised the hospital staff, saying: 'The hospital was quite warm for the few days we were in there. The staff, they're not moaning, they're laughing, they're joking. Just wonderful, wonderful people. We were so well looked after again. It's like a little trip, now. It's like being in a hotel!'
Background on Cassidy's Family
Cassidy began dating Adam Cottrell in 2010 and they got engaged, but split in 2011. They reconciled for their daughter Eliza before parting ways for good in 2013. She later moved on with Marc Humphreys, a cameraman she met on the set of EastEnders, and they announced their engagement in 2015. Their daughter Joanie was born in February 2016.
The couple are still engaged, and Cassidy told OK! magazine they 'still fancy the pants off each other'. She said they plan to marry soon: 'I do think we'll get our close family together at a lovely place in London, go to a restaurant and have a big party afterwards.' She added that ten years would be a 'brilliant time' to do it, either ten years together or ten years engaged.
