Line of Duty star Jason Watkins has posted a heartbreaking tribute to his late daughter Maude on what would have been her birthday. Sharing a throwback snap of his daughter, the actor wrote: "Maudie - Here she is. Full of joy. She was so happy. I look at this and just can't believe she's gone. We have to remember her like this, like she was, however painful..." Maude tragically died of sepsis in 2011, aged two.
Fans of the star immediately rushed to offer their sympathy, with one saying: "A beautiful little girl, your grief must be insurmountable. Your work in bringing Sepsis to public attention and saving lives is her memorial. RIP sweet Maudie." Another wrote: "You're doing an amazing job as a family raising awareness of sepsis, my grandson was born a few weeks ago had pneumonia & sepsis, all over the hospital there were warning posters etc so a big thank you for helping to raise the awareness. Beautiful little girl x." A third post read: "So heartbreaking. But the work you are doing to ensure this doesn’t happen to others is the best tribute she could have."
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© Photo: Getty ImagesJason pictured with his wife Clara Francis
Last month, Jason talked about his devastating loss in a bid to raise awareness of sepsis. At first, the actor and his wife Clara Francis, believed she had the flu – and when that didn't clear up they took her to the GP, and later twice to A&E, by which time she was struggling to breathe. Jason recalled that on New Year's Eve 2010, the family were sent home from hospital, and Clara put Maude down to bed. The next morning, the couple's other daughter came in to tell them she couldn't wake her sibling.
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He told Loose Women: "In the morning our other daughter, who shared a room at the time, came in in the morning and said: 'I can't wake Maude.' She had died on the morning of New Year. It's almost Dickensian that in modern medicine that could happen." He added: "It's had a cataclysmic effect on our family. The first time sepsis was mentioned was six months later, in the inquest… What sepsis does is lurks underneath presenting symptoms. With Maude that was breathing difficulties and a chest infection."
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