How Warwick Davis kept vigil at his wife Samantha’s hospital bedside as she battle sepsis five years ago – after falling gravely ill on family caravan holiday when she mistook symptoms for stress
Warwick Davis stood guard at his wife Samantha’s hospital bedside as she fought for her life against sepsis five years before her death at the age of 53.
The couple, who had been together for almost thirty years, had experienced difficulties before losing two children, but this was something Warwick was not prepared for.
Their family were preparing for a caravan holiday in 2019 when Samantha suddenly fell ill with a mysterious condition, something she put down to stress.
However, within days she was on the brink of death as doctors told her terrified husband she had sepsis, a rare condition in which the body’s immune system attacks its own organs and tissues.
The thought of losing his ‘soulmate’ tortured Warwick and although she fought hard to recover, he later admitted that they were still feeling the effects because they refused to ‘take life for granted anymore’.
Samantha Davis was seen holding her daughter Annabelle in the hospital as she battled sepsis in 2019. She would later make a full recovery
Warwick Davis pictured with his wife Samantha and their children Annabelle and Harrison at the premiere of TV series Willow in November 2022
Warwick and Samantha Davis pictured at their wedding in Yaxley, Cambridgeshire, in 1991
It was a motto the couple lived by and enjoyed another five years of happiness together before Samantha tragically passed away last month at the age of 53.
In a moving statement released on Wednesday, Warwick said his late wife’s death had “left a huge hole in our lives” and was a tribute to his “favourite human being”.
He described Sammy, as he called her, as his “most trusted confidante and a fierce supporter of everything I have done in my career.”
He said he felt like he could achieve anything with his wife by his side and that it felt like he had a “superpower.”
“She was a unique character, always saw the bright side of life, had a wicked sense of humor and always laughed at my bad jokes,” Warwick said in a statement to the BBC.
In 2022, Warwick had opened up about Samantha’s health problems, including her hard-fought battle with blood poisoning, which left her on the brink of death before making a remarkable recovery.
He revealed the mother-of-two had fallen ill while preparing for a family holiday at the caravan in 2019.
Initially she felt itchy and exhausted, but the concern grew when she could no longer get up.
Warwick called an out-of-hours doctor who told them to go to the nearest emergency room immediately because they were concerned she might have sepsis.
Samantha Davis (pictured with Warwick), who met her husband on the set of his 1988 film Willow, tragically died on March 24 at the age of 53.
Warwick and Samantha pictured together during a date night in October last year
During their 33-year marriage, they had three children, one of whom tragically died shortly after birth. The couple is pictured in 1996
The disease is caused by an infection that causes the body’s immune system to work overtime and attack tissues and organs, which can be fatal and lead to amputations.
Nearly 250,000 Britons are diagnosed with sepsis every year, of which 48,000 die and 40 percent are left with life-changing disabilities and symptoms.
On arrival, doctors examined Samantha and soon became concerned about a scar on her back from a recent spinal surgery that was ‘inflamed with fluid, red and warm to the touch’.
Tests showed she had a deadly Streptococcus bacteria and a meningitis infection, meaning she needed emergency surgery.
He told The sun: ‘The next few hours were the longest of my life as I waited in the ward with our children in the empty room next to Sam’s hospital bed. I hoped it wouldn’t symbolize a future for us without her.”
The ordeal left Samantha in intensive care, where doctors flooded her body with antibiotics in a bid to save her life.
The infection had ‘destroyed every cell in her body’, leaving Samantha extremely weak and her family worried whether she would survive.
Warwick continued, “Our family gathered at her bedside; Although we were optimistic, we actually said goodbye in case Sam didn’t survive.”
“It’s so hard to see someone you love more than anything in the world fighting to stay alive without the strength to even turn over in bed.”
Samantha was able to overcome the disease, although it took three months (and the constant company of her husband) to return her to full health.
However, while Samantha recovered physically, the disease left its mark on both her and Warwick.
“Every night I would break down, thinking this horrible disease that came out of nowhere could take my soulmate away from me,” he told The Sun.
“We now never take life for granted and live every day as if it were our last.
“I appreciate and cherish every moment Sam and I spend together.”
It was an ideal they lived by, enjoying five more years together before her tragic death on March 24.
The couple’s children (all pictured together) said they were ‘honored to have received love like hers’
Warwick and Samantha smile and hold hands in the back of a taxi as they attend the Pride of Britain Awards at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London in October 2014
Samantha and Warwick attend the ITV Palooza! held at the Royal Festival Hall in London in October 2018
Davis said his wife’s mobility had deteriorated in recent years, but said she was determined not to let it bring her down.
Their two other children, Annabelle and Harrison, paid tribute to their mother, saying: ‘Her love and happiness carried us all our lives.’ Mom is our best friend and we are honored to have received just as much love.”
The couple met on the set of George Lucas’ film Willow and married three years later in 1991.
During their 33-year marriage, they had three children, one of whom tragically died shortly after birth.
The actor and his wife lost son Lloyd just nine days after he was born in 1991, the year they married.
Davis said in 2022 that he wouldn’t wish the “devastating” experience on anyone, adding: “You never get over it.”
He and Samantha – co-founder of the charity Little People UK – met when Davis starred as wizard Willow Ufgood in the 1988 film named after the character.