Natalie Cassidy says her nine-year-old daughter Joanie was rushed to hospital again after breaking her arm for the third time. The latest accident came after Joanie slipped over in the hall before PE at school, turning a routine morning into another A&E visit.
The 43-year-old said she was close to having a nervous breakdown after the call came in. She said, “Then the phone rang. She slipped over in the hall, before doing PE. I'm speechless. It's so traumatic.”
Life With Nat and A&E
Cassidy said Joanie had broken her arm a few years ago in a clean break, then broke it again and needed metal work fitted. Eight weeks ago, she said, Joanie went under general anaesthetic and had the metal work removed, only for the arm to break again shortly after.
She said, “A few years ago she broke her arm, and it was a clean break. She then broke it again, they put all the metal work in.” That timeline matters for anyone tracking the injury: this was not the first hospital visit, but the latest in a run of treatment that has already included surgery and removal of metal work.
Marc Humphreys and blood tests
Cassidy said she feared some sort of deficiency, but full blood tests came back in range. “She's had full blood tests, and everything is in range. It's absolutely perfect. The consultant actually said, ''I do think it's just really bad luck,'” she said, leaving repeated trauma as the only explanation the family has been given so far.
She also said Joanie’s bones were left in pieces, and that she felt she was “going to have a nervous breakdown.” The practical reality is simple: the family is back in A&E, the child is back under observation, and the reason for three breaks has still not moved beyond bad luck.
Eliza and the next step
Cassidy shares Joanie with fiancé Marc Humphreys and is also mum to 14-year-old Eliza. For Joanie, the next step is medical care after another fracture; for Cassidy, the story is now about managing a repeat injury that has already gone through surgery, general anaesthetic and metal work removal.
