Jason Watkins and his wife Clara Francis have opened up about their heartbreak over the death of their daughter Maude, revealing that it could have been “avoided”.
The actor, 60, and his wife tragically lost their daughter when she was just two years old in 2011 after she was undiagnosed with sepsis while suffering from the flu.
The married couple have been working on a new documentary, Jason & Clara: In Memory of Maudie, which will see them offer support to other families grieving.
Revealing that Maude’s death was ‘preventable’, Clara said: ‘I’ve always felt with Maude, she just had bad luck (…). That makes it that much more painful for me because this is a death that could have been prevented.”
As their documentary will air on ITV at 9pm on Thursday March 30, who are Jason and Clara and what happened to their daughter Maude?
Death: Jason Watkins and his wife Clara Francis have opened up about their heartbreak over the death of their daughter Maude as they reveal it could have been prevented.
Child: The actor, 60, and his wife tragically lost their daughter when she was just two years old in 2011 after she was undiagnosed with sepsis while suffering from the flu
Who are Jason Watkins and Clara Francis?
Jason is an English stage and screen actor best known for his lead role in the 2014 two-part drama The Lost Honor of Christopher Jefferies.
He also played Prime Minister Harold Wilson in the third series of the Netflix hit The Crown and starred opposite David Tennant in the 2020 serial killer drama Des.
Jason is married to fashion and jewelry designer Clara and the couple tied the knot in 2014.
It is not known how they met or how long they had been together before getting married.
The couple welcomed daughters Bessie and Maude and son Gilbert. But tragedy struck when their daughter Maude tragically died at the age of two in 2011.
Jason was previously married to actress Caroline Harding and they share two grown children: Freddie and Pip.
Career: Jason is an English stage and screen actor best known for his lead role in the 2014 two-part drama The Lost Honor of Christopher Jefferies.
Relationship: Jason is married to fashion and jewelry designer Clara and the couple tied the knot in 2014. In addition to late daughter Maude, they share children Bessie and Gilbert.
What happened to your daughter Maude?
Jason tragically found his two-year-old daughter Maude, suffering from the flu, dead in her bed on New Year’s Day morning, 2011.
Despite two hospital visits, her flu symptoms masked sepsis and she went undiagnosed.
Sepsis, known as the “silent killer,” strikes when an infection, such as blood poisoning, triggers a violent immune response in which the body attacks its own organs.
If caught early, it is easily treated with antibiotics and intravenous fluids, but these must be given as soon as sepsis is suspected: it strikes with frightening speed, and for every hour of delay, the patient’s chance of death increases by 8 percent.
The couple recently spoke to Giovanna Fletcher on her show Happy Mum, Happy Baby about Maude’s tragic death and said they believe it was “preventable”.
In detailing what happened, Clara said: I’ve always felt with Maude, she was just unlucky. You know, another kid may have gone to A&E and had a consultant there say ‘I think this might be sepsis’ and his kid is alive.
‘I think it’s important to say that some parents are heard. I think it’s luck. (…) That makes me much more painful because this is a death that could have been prevented. (…)
“Knowing that your child could be a 14-year-old girl who has a really fabulous life when it didn’t happen to her is particularly difficult.” (…) Why didn’t I yell at the hospital and demand that they keep her there? (…) I failed in what she was supposed to do, I was supposed to keep her alive.’
Tragic: Jason found his two-year-old daughter Maude, suffering from the flu, dead in her bed on New Year’s Day morning in 2011.
Devastating: Despite two hospital visits, her flu symptoms masked sepsis and she went undiagnosed
Recalling how Maude’s sepsis began to manifest itself, Jason explained: ‘(Maude) had a cold and a sore throat, she had a kind of raspy voice for a while, which we enjoyed because it was funny in a way.
“We never thought it was serious and of course it probably wasn’t at the time. And it must have lasted for about a week, and we thought (…) ‘this should have changed by now’. So we took her to the GP and I was worried that she had gone to the chest.’
Clara, who works as a fashion designer, continued: ‘So, I took her to the emergency room, (…) and the doctor said: ‘You know what, she has croup. Alright! Give him these steroids’ (…) It was very reassuring.
Jason added: ‘So, she went to sleep that night. Then the next day she (…) she woke up and she was having trouble.’
Clara said: ‘I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t find my breath.’
Jason said: ‘She was passing out; she was pale and faint. (…) So we decided not to call for an ambulance, we just got in the car (…) and we were trying to keep her awake by screaming.
“It was really horrible for about 15 minutes to get to the hospital. After an hour she was somewhat calmer, her temperature had dropped. (…) So it was a consultant who said ‘Maybe it’s better to take her home because there is a more familiar environment.’ She wasn’t feeling well at the time, and that’s when the guilt kicks in, of course.’
Clara, who also shares daughter Bessie and son Gilbert with Jason, explained: “Then in the morning Bessie came into our room because she was sharing a room with Maude and said, ‘I can’t wake Maude up, and I just knew. Because there was a part of me, my kind of maternal instinct said that she was really sick.
‘But because the doctors kept saying, ‘okay’, I thought ‘oh, okay’. (…) Because, before something like this happens, you are trusting the doctors (…) you kind of think ‘if the doctor, who went to medical school, is telling me this, then I’m going to believe it.’ But when I look back, my instinct was, no, this is really serious. And I wish I had trusted my gut more, like I do now.
Heartbreak: The couple recently spoke to Giovanna Fletcher on her Happy Mum, Happy Baby about Maude’s tragic death and said they believe it was ‘preventable’
Parents: Speaking of his loss, Jason said: ‘You expect there to be many, many (special moments) in life, but of course, in our case there weren’t’
Clara explained that while they were making her ITV documentary, it was the first time they had sat down together and discussed together forensic details about the circumstances leading up to her death and the day she died.
She said that in the aftermath of Maude’s death, they both attended separate therapy and later realized that they both remember the day of her death “completely different”.
Clara said: ‘Maude died (…) on that night between New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. And I remember the Christmas before, so it would have been 2 weeks before, my grandmother was still alive and we were with my mothers. I remember filming the girls (…) cooking in the kitchen with my grandmother.
‘And I remember thinking ‘I’m going to remember this one day, because my grandmother won’t be here anymore’ And then I remember when Maude died thinking, you were the one who was supposed to die, not Maude. and be quite angry about it.
“Of course no one should be dying, but you know she was 93 and still alive, and she even told me ‘it should have been me’ and I think I probably said ‘yeah, it should have been you.'” , because you are 93.’
She added: ‘I remember feeling deep shame after Maude’s death (…) for not having savored every second of it. But of course I know in my logical mind that’s ridiculous. Because nobody thinks that her son is going to die.’
Jason said, ‘And you hope it keeps happening. (…) Because you expect there to be several, many lifetimes full of (special moments), but of course in our case there weren’t.’
When will the documentary air?
The couple filmed a documentary, titled Jason & Clara: In Memory of Maudie, detailing the heartbreaking loss of their young daughter Maude.
Bereavement: The couple have filmed a documentary Jason & Clara: In Memory of Maudie detailing the heartbreaking loss of their young daughter Maude.
Documentary: The show will air on ITV1 at 9:00pm on Thursday 30th March and will see them remember the emotional death of their son.
The show will air on ITV1 at 9:00pm on Thursday March 30 and will see them remember the emotional death of their son.
They will also offer support to other families grieving throughout the documentary as they navigate their own loss.
Speaking on the Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast, Clara said making the documentary was the first time they had sat down together and looked in forensic detail at the circumstances leading up to her death and the day she died.
If you need further support or information about grief and bereavement, you can contact the mental health charity Mind on 0300 123 3393.