Emmerdale star Laura Norton and her former co-star partner Mark Jordon have shared their heartache as they revealed their two young children have contracted a rare genetic condition.
Laura, who is known for playing Kerry Wyatt in the ITV soap, announced the birth of her second child back in October. She shared the happy news on Instagram, just after viewers watched her character act as a birthing partner for teen Amelia Spencer (Daisy Campbell) as she gave birth early to a baby girl in the Dales.
Laura confirmed back in August that she was expecting her second baby with her fiance and former co-star Mark. Sharing an image on social media at the time of her holding hands with her partner, who played Daz Spencer in Emmerdale, she told her followers they would soon be welcoming the second addition to their family.
The soap actress then announced the safe arrival of a baby girl, who is the younger sister to the couple's first child, son Jesse, who was born back in February 2021. Sharing pictures of the newborn meeting her older brother and alongside her doting parents, Laura penned: "She’s here!!!! We’ve baked another belta. This little superstar joined us on Mon 17th October. She’s dead clever and a tiny little bundle of joy and beauty." Revealing her name, the mum-of-two added: "Ronnie Jordon."
But now, Laura, 39, and Mark, 58, who also has children from a previous relationship, have shared how parenthood hasn't come without its challenges as both of their children infant children have faced health issues. The couple has revealed that both Jesse and Ronnie have been diagnosed with Usher syndrome, which causes impairments to hearing and vision.
It means those affected will need hearing aids for the rest of their lives and can suffer from sight loss later on. They said that they first had concerns that something was wrong with Jesse shortly after his birth in 2021, after he failed standard hearing tests. However, they didn't find out he has Usher Syndrome until Laura was pregnant with Ronnie, and tests confirmed that both of the little ones carried the same rare gene that causes the condition.
Speaking to HELLO!, Laura said: "My intuition told me there was a serious problem and I was in tears at the thought of it. Knowing that we'd passed this on to our son was heartbreaking." She added: "To watch our little boy enjoy the world around him yet know so much will be taken from him, was painful."
Speaking about their decision to share their children's diagnosis publically, Mark said: "We've agonised about doing this before we've even told our children about their condition... we're going to write them a letter to explain why we did this and show then when they're old enough to understand."
Mark and Laura are now committed to raising awareness of Usher Syndrome, and Mark is going to parliament this week to lobby MPs about raising awareness of Usher syndrome and campaign for funding.
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