Former TOWIE star Billie Shepherd has given an update after her two-year-old daughter Margot suffered a seizure, describing it as a “scary and awful” experience
Billie Shepherd has updated fans after her ‘scary and awful’ experience when her youngest daughter Margot, two, suffered a febrile convulsion.
The mum of three posted a photo of a tired-looking Margot being comforted by big sister Nelly, who turned 10 in July, revealing the little one had suffered a febrile seizure brought on by a spike in her temperature.
In the caption, Billie, who turns 35 this month, wrote: “Yesterday morning out little darling Margot had another febrile seizure. It was again due to a spike in her temperature, it never gets easier to cope with, just so scary and awful for your little baby to go through that. Thankfully she is home and on the mend.”
In March last year, Billie spoke out about the seizures – which can can affect around one in 20 children – after Margot, who she shares with her husband Greg Shepherd, experienced her first one, saying it was “the most scared I’ve ever been in my life”.
In an interview at the time, Billie said: “It was the most scared I’ve ever been in my life, and the thing is, the doctors all said the seizures are more common than you think. I wanted to put it out there to maybe help other people.”
The NHS describes febrile seizures as a fit that can happen when a child has a fever, and says they’re relatively common and in most cases, not serious. According to the NHS Inform website, “During a febrile seizure, the child’s body usually becomes stiff, they lose consciousness and their arms and legs twitch. Some children may wet themselves. This is known as a tonic clonic seizure.”
When Billie, who is also mum to seven-year-old Arthur, first posted about the seizures last year, she said she wanted to raise more awareness to help other parents cope with the scary experience because she felt there was a lack of information.
“I was so scared and didn’t know what to do, we of course called an ambulance and Margot was examined at the hospital,” she said at the time. “After speaking to numerous doctors since they all said the same thing to me, that they are quite common but not spoken about, So I’m sharing this because it may encourage some of you to research what to do in this situation.”
Fans of Billie & Greg: The Family Diaries show are used to seeing all the drama and delight that goes on in the Shepherd house, but the pair came under fire recently for sharing footage featuring Billie’s dad before he entered rehab. Billie was filmed crying on the phone to her dad Dave, who struggles with alcohol addiction, when he was suffering a drink-induced “psychosis”.
But while some viewers felt it was too much, others commended Billie for being so honest, with one writing: “I think she’s actually really brave and real for sharing all of this. It raises awareness and some people might get help after seeing some of these situations.”
