Dancing on Ice's Ben Hanlin reveals secret heartache as baby daughter battles sepsis
9 February 2020, 12:19
Doctors fought to save seven-month-old Delilah's life during six days of hell at Birmingham's Heartlands Hospital.
Dancing on Ice star Ben Hanlin has revealed his baby daughter Delilah has been battling sepsis.
The magician, 33, opened up about his secret heartache and told of the terrifying six days of torture at Birmingham's Heartlands Hospital as doctors pumped his the seven-month-old with antibiotics to save her life.
The father-of-two, who admitted he slept on the hospital floor to be near his poorly girl, explained her temperature had sky-rocketed before she began struggling to breathe.
It was then that he and wife Briony knew it was time to phone the emergency services and rush their youngest child to A&E.
Read more: Who is Ben Hanlin? Dancing On Ice 2020 star's age, career and wife revealed
Ben told The Sun: "She had mottled skin and a temperature of 103. Doctors managed to bring it down with glucose and antibiotics, but we were still in hospital for days.
"It was terrifying. She was hooked up to tubes and put on a drip which is something no parent ever wants to see. The whole thing was a huge shock.
"Luckily, Delilah responded really well to the treatment and she's now been given the all clear. We couldn't be more relieved."
Read more: Who is Dancing On Ice star Ben Hanlin's wife and does he have children?
Despite the family's trauma, the telly trickster decided to keep the terrifying news quiet and took to the ice rink with his skating partner Carlotta Edwards after Delilah was sent home from hospital.
He added: "I only told my dance partner Carlotta [Edwards] and the producers what was going on, but my mind has obviously been elsewhere.
"I was grateful to focus on something else for a few hours. I’m enjoying being on the show but with Delilah in hospital it really put things into perspective for me.
"I didn’t care about my scores because at the end of the day it’s just TV. All that matters is that my kids are healthy.”
Only now is Ben speaking out about his daughter's health scare to raise awareness of the life-threatening illness.
He explained: “It’s terrifying because I didn’t know anything about sepsis before.
"I really want to make sure no other parents have to go through this nightmare and they are aware of the signs and know to get help immediately if they spot something is wrong.
“The doctors said if we had called the ambulance just half an hour later, it could have been a completely different story. Delilah only responded so well because we called 999 so quickly."
Read more: Dancing on Ice Carlotta Edwards: Professional skater's husband, career and age revealed
Sepsis, also known as blood poisoning, attacks the body's own organs and tissues.
Most often, it's caused by infections, for example pneumonia or appendicitis, but if it's not treated immediately it can result in organ failure and death.
