Jason & Clara: In Memory of Maudie

Jason & Clara: In Memory of Maudie

Actor Jason Watkins and his wife Clara Francis tell the emotional story of their daughter Maudie, who died suddenly aged just two and a half in the early hours of New Year’s Day 2011.
 
Maudie died of sepsis, a condition where the body’s immune system overreacts to an infection, causing it to go into overdrive and attack the body's tissues and organs.  

Ever since the tragedy, Jason and Clara have been on a mission to raise awareness of sepsis and also to give hope to other bereaved parents. 
 
Now, as the family are about to move from the flat where Maudie was born and died, they feel the time is right to tell their story and explore their grief. 
 
Allowing the cameras to follow their personal journey, the couple have therapy together for the first time and meet other parents who have lost their children, in a bid to break taboos around talking about child bereavement. 

Jason says: “I do feel apprehensive, I do think it’s a delicate thing and I think, ‘Are we doing the right thing?’ But it does feel something to be shared and it can help us and other people.”

Clara adds: “It’s about breaking down the taboo of child loss. It’s so grim and unspeakable, people don’t know what to say. People don’t know how to act around you, but, also, I want to talk about Maudie and people will know that she’s here.”

As the couple begin to pack up their home and prepare to move, they talk about Maudie.

Jason says: “My memories of Maude are that she was such a happy child and very wise and very, kind of, centred. It’s strange because she was only two-and-a-half. She used to play hide and seek. She used to love hide and seek.”

Clara: “She was just joyful. A really joyful child and I just feel so sad that I’ll never see her grow up.”

In this deeply personal and emotional film, Jason and Clara recall what happened when Maudie fell ill and the moment they discovered she had died. 

Jason talks about the inquest, the moment the family discovered Maude had died of sepsis and how they have been trying to raise awareness about the condition ever since.

Jason visits King’s College Hospital, London, to meet Professor Akash Deep who is running a ground-breaking training programme to teach doctors and nurses how to spot the signs of sepsis.

In the film, Clara talks about the days following Maude’s death and how a friend of hers has stored Maude’s belongings for her because she couldn’t face packing them away.

The couple also talk about their involvement in a support group for bereaved parents and that Clara is now trained to run sessions there.

Plus Jason meets up with two dads who have connected with him online after also losing their daughters to sepsis.

Jason says: “Maude’s loss can save lives. Sharing her story and what happened and our story, that we offer hope for families, for parent’s that have lost children, that’s what I want Maude’s memory to do.”