Laura Norton and Emmerdale’s Mark Jordon reveal a rare genetic condition affecting their children

Laura Norton, 39, and Mark Jordon, 58, have revealed that their two young children have been diagnosed with a rare genetic condition.

The engaged couple, best known for their roles in British soap operas like Emmerdale and Heartbeat, just welcomed their second child, Ronnie, in October 2022.

But family life with the newborn has been affected by health problems, as both Ronnie and their two-year-old son Jesse have been diagnosed with Usher syndrome.

Usher syndrome is a rare genetic disease that affects both hearing and vision, requiring both children to wear hearing aids for the rest of their lives and potentially dealing with vision loss in their teens.

Admitting that she was “in tears” at the thought that something was wrong with her children before she found out about the condition, Laura opened up this week about how they are dealing with the setback in health and fit.

In a new interview with Hello! MagazineThe couple, who met on the set of Emmerdale in 2014, spoke about the condition for the first time.

Laura is known for playing Kerry Wyatt on Emmerdale, meeting her fiancé, who played PC Phil Bellamy on the series Heartbeat, when she briefly joined the soap cast as Daz Spencer.

They often share a glimpse of family life with their two little ones via social media, but have kept the diagnosis, first suspected in 2021, a secret.

Speaking with Hello!, the couple admitted that young children don’t know their condition yet, but as parents, they felt ready to speak about it in public to help others.

“We have been distraught to do this before we have even told our children about their condition…we will write them a letter to explain why we did this and show them when they are old enough to understand.” Mark shared.

The couple first became concerned that there might be health problems shortly after the birth of their son Jesse in 2021, when he failed standard hearing tests.

As subsequent tests confirmed that something was not right with her hearing, Laura explained that she had a gut-wrenching concern that there was a problem, sharing, “My gut told me there was a serious problem and I was in tears thinking about it.” ‘.

Laura and Mark didn’t find out it was Usher Syndrome until they were expecting their second child, Ronnie, when they were told during a medical evaluation that they both carried the gene that causes the condition.

“Knowing that we had passed this on to our son was heartbreaking,” said Laura, who was later told that her children will suffer from night blindness in their teens, before the loss of peripheral vision and tunnel vision.

She continued: “Watching our little boy enjoy the world around him and knowing that so much will be taken away from him, it was painful.”

Jesse now wears a hearing aid, and his mother Laura explains that he can “hear planes in the sky before us” with the help.

While it was bittersweet to welcome their daughter Jesse last year and go through the same issues she was also diagnosed with, the couple admitted that at least they knew what to expect the second time around.

While they are also pleased that their two children have each other, rather than dealing with the condition alone.

Looking to the future, the couple now hope to raise awareness and help others with suffering children.

Taking a stand, Mark is even addressing Parliament this week to lobby MPs on raising awareness for Usher Syndrome and campaigning for funding.

There are three types of Usher Syndrome that can be suffered. People with Type 1 have profound hearing loss from deafness at birth, balance problems, and are likely to lose night vision by the age of ten.

While Type 2 usually means that babies suffer from moderate to severe hearing loss in early childhood, but their balance is not affected. Type 3 sees normal hearing at birth, with the loss beginning in infancy. Types 2 and 3 see loss of night vision in adolescence.

There is currently no treatment for Usher Syndrome, with the aim of detecting it as soon as possible.