EastEnders star rushes son, 6, to hospital after mystery illness

| Soaps Reporter Published August 4, 2026 9:25am Updated August 4, 2026 9:25am She described the event as ‘genuinely scary’ (Pictures: Melissa Suffield) EastEnders star Melissa Suffield had to rush her son to hospital over the weekend. The actress, best known for playing the role of Lucy Beale in the BBC One soap from 2004-2010, gave birth to little River back in 2020. Melissa, who is 33, shared the news on her socials that River had been rushed to A&E with worrying and mysterious health issues. She told her followers that her holiday had ended with the young boy in A&E. ‘Not the most fun way to round off the holiday’, she wrote as she revealed the news on her Instagram Stories. She returned to her social media platform later and added: ‘We just got home, I’ll fill you in later on River once I’ve got him to bed. I’m really intrigued to know if anyone has ever had anything similar happen to their kid and what the f*** it was?!’. Ask Metro Use AI to go deeper into the stories you care about – powered by Metro and trusted publications. Melissa did indeed fill her followers in on what happened. The young lad fell ill with mysterious symptoms (Picture: Melissa Suffield) Alongside a picture of River, she wrote: ‘So an update on what went down with Riv. It was genuinely quite scary, he was very difficult to wake up yesterday morning. ‘And then he’d be awake for about 2-5 minutes and seem like he was going to wake up, and then would be DRIPPING in sweat with no temperature, and fall back to sleep wherever he was, and then be almost impossible to wake up again. Rinse and repeat. So floppy, lethargy, even sweating on the backs of his hands.’ Melissa added: ‘As a lockdown baby, he’s had the classic get hit especially hard by illness pipeline where his immune system just got challenged later in his life, so we are no stranger to an unwell child. But I had never had anything like this before, and more to the point, neither had my mum who was there and has had 5 children, so that combined with just how floppy he was, was enough for me to get him seen asap. Melissa gave birth to River in 2020 (Picture: Melissa Suffield) ‘He slowly perked up a bit over the course of the afternoon, and is much better today, but I’m keeping a very VERY close eye on him, and will take him to our regular GP tomorrow too poor mate. ‘No idea what it was, has anyone ever had anything like this before? We were stumped as was the Dr who saw him yesterday!’. Away from her success as an actress, Melissa has managed to rack up over 250k followers on her Instagram page, The Confident Mama. Melissa has a hugely successful Instagram page (Picture: Melissa Suffield) Elsewhere, the star has been incredibly open about being diagnosed with small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) and a vitamin B12 deficiency. She previously shared that it took around 40 GP appointments, several medical tests, and more than five figures in costs before finally getting a diagnosis. The actress has spoken about how difficult it’s been managing the symptoms, which include nausea, reflux, constipation, and fatigue. Deals of the Day Wuka launches the UK’s first period-proof swimwear for heavy flows Bridgerton fans are rushing to buy these new Netflix-inspired perfumes now £12 off The affordable summer wardrobe update you'll wear from rooftop drinks to beach holidays The £7.99 lip balm beauty fans love for glossy, hydrated lips just dropped four new shades This Keskine hydrogel mask could fix your summer skin Back in February, Melissa shared the wonderful news that she had got married to her partner Robert – in Las Vegas! Arrow MORE: Sarah in danger on Coronation Street as prison attack leaves her injured Arrow MORE: Coronation Street star calls for ‘powerful’ Dylan and Betsy future Arrow MORE: Real-life soap couple share update with romantic picture: ‘I love you’ The Soaps Newsletter – Daily All the latest soaps spoilers and gossip, in your inbox every morning.