The foundation for sudden infant death said this in their latest magazine....
Emmerdale helps boost cot death awareness
14 February 2008
On 21 February 2008, Emmerdale viewers will be shocked and saddened by the sudden and unexpected death of baby Daniel, the 7-month-old son of Laurel and Ashley Thomas. The storyline illustrates the devastation and confusion felt by parents who have been through the experience, and helps raise awareness of the importance of support and research.
Here Charlotte Bellamy (Laurel) and John Middleton (Ashley) talk about the challenges of the role...
Other than a few heated words with the in-laws, life for the Thomas?s couldn?t be better. Reverend Ashley, wife Laurel and baby Daniel are the perfect happy family and this is none more visible than when they are all together having lunch, while baby Daniel is taking a nap. But within minutes their lives are shattered, when Laurel checks on Daniel to find him not breathing.
FSID helped Charlotte Bellamy, who plays Laurel, research the part by putting her in touch with a number of parents whose baby died unexpectedly: ?What struck me was that, despite the fact that they had been through such a devastating and traumatic ordeal, they were very open about their experiences, and focused on not wanting other parents to have to go through the same thing.?
The episode when Daniel dies is very powerful and will undoubtedly increase awareness of cot death. Hopefully it will also direct parents towards getting support, both in terms of bereavement support and safe sleep advice. John Middleton, who plays Daniel?s father Ashley, agrees: ?For me the purpose of soaps is to tackle the issues people face, and to put a hand out to them and to say you?re not alone. We felt a huge sense of responsibility to portray the story and emotions as accurately as possible, and hope we have done okay.?
?Throughout the filming, the crew were incredibly supportive,? John explains. ?I remember one particular scene where, at the end, Laurel is cradling Daniel and Ashley is standing behind her in shock. After the take I looked round and every single member of the crew was silent and in tears. In fact, throughout filming, the scenes were so upsetting that during breaks Charlotte and I couldn?t even look at each other.?
For Charlotte, who plays Laurel, tackling such a traumatic and emotive issue was a challenge and meant that her own family were often in her thoughts during filming: ?I have two young children, one of which is only a few months older than Daniel, so it was difficult not to get personally involved. Obviously, as a parent, cot death is something that is at the back of your mind all of the time, and every parent?s worst nightmare. John agrees: ?Yes, you would often find yourself so drained by the story that you would start to think and get upset about it at home. Although we have absolutely no knowledge what it?s like to go through that situation, the fact that we are both parents helped because we could think about how we would feel if something happened to our own children.?
Charlotte and John agree that ?it has been a fantastic privilege to do this storyline and it has certainly made us think about the issues surrounding sudden infant death, and the enormous ongoing impact it has on those affected.?