Natalie Cassidy has opened up about a deeply harrowing experience involving her nine-year-old daughter’s emergency hospital admission. The ‘EastEnders’ star, best known for her role as trumpet-playing drama-magnet Sonia Fowler, revealed she took her daughter Joanie to A&E after the child broke her arm in a school accident.Cassidy spoke about the harrowing details of the incident, which happened just weeks after Joanie underwent surgery on the same arm following an earlier injury. He shares Joanie with her fiance Mark Humphreys. He also has an older daughter, 15-year-old Eliza, from a previous relationship.
Tragic incident at school
Cassidy explained the circumstances surrounding the accident with emotional honesty. He described how he and his family plan to spend quality time together at home. “I used to do a little work at home in the morning. [Marc] Went outside, put up the paddling pool, cut all the grass – thinking we’d be home for a few days, like a mini vacation. And then the phone rang,” he recounted on the Life with Nat podcast.The call brought devastating news. “Joanie’s arm is broken again. Same arm – cut into pieces. General anesthetic, same operation,” Cassidy said, describing the injury in stark terms. The incident occurred when Joanie fell in the hall before PE at school.
Medical investigation In repeated fractures
After the second fracture, medical professionals began investigating whether an underlying condition might be contributing to Joanie’s susceptibility to fractures. Cassidy revealed that her daughter has been tested for “some type of deficiency” that could explain the frequency of injuries.However, the test results came back reassuringly normal. “He’s had a full blood test, and everything is within range. It’s absolutely perfect. The consultant actually said, ‘I think it’s really bad luck,'” Cassidy reported, indicating that the medical team could find no physiological explanation for the repeated fractures.
Natalie Cassidy’s career and past challenges
Cassidy joined EastEnders aged 10 and announced her departure from the soap in 2025, later venturing into podcasting with her show Life with Nat. The actress has previously addressed her past controversial decisions, including appearing in a series of weight loss videos in the 2000s titled ‘Then & Now’ and ‘The Perfect Ten’.Reflecting on those videos, Cassidy admitted that taking part in the series was “not a good move”, by which time she had lost four stone.