Bucks Fizz singer Jay Aston broke down in tears on Loose Women today as she revealed that her daughter was given a 50% chance of survival after contracting meningitis.
The 60-year-old appeared on the ITV show today as she relived the terrifying rapid deterioration of her daughter Josie.
Joining panelists Kaye Adams, Jane Moore, Katie Piper and Frankie Bridge, she revealed that her daughter had rung her after beginning to feel unwell after sitting in the garden.
Jay had rushed home to keep an eye on her daughter, who was suffering a high temperature, achy neck and joint pains.
"Fortunately she stayed in my bed so I could keep an eye on her," she said. "If she'd gone in her own bed I don't think I'd have a daughter..."
She paused, struggling to continue as she began to cry and took a sip of water.
"Listen, take all the time you need Jay," Kaye reassured her. "This was so fresh for you. It's less than four weeks that this happened and Josie is still in hospital though, thankfully, things seem to be coming around. But my god, you have been at the edge of the precipice."
Jay said: "At three o'clock in the morning I turned all of the lights on and said, 'Let's have a look at you.' Because, bizarrely, my husband had meningitis 19 years ago and she was my silver lining of nearly losing my husband. So I kind of knew what to look for-"
As she began to tear up, she apologised but continued: "I saw the rash on her arms and it was four little brown spots and so I knew then what it was. I was like, 'Oh my god, not again.'"
Jay said that, at that point, she knew what it was and knew she had to take matters into her own hands after the ambulance they had called for hours ago had failed to turn up.
When Josie was in hospital, her organs began to fail and she was put into a coma, with doctors giving her just a 50% chance of survival.
Speaking to the Mirror about the horrific ordeal, she said: "I sat by her bedside night after night willing her to make it. I couldn’t believe this was her fate, because she’s such a lovely person. She’s outgoing, kind, good-willed and full of life. It just felt so cruel.
“I’ve been doing a lot of praying. She’s my world – we’re ridiculously close. I just couldn’t imagine being without her.”
*Loose Women airs weekdays at 12.30pm on ITV
