Kym Marsh has revealed the impact the NHS has had on her life.
The former ‘Coronation Street’ star opened up on the way the health workers – who saved her dad’s life after two heart attacks – helped her cope with the loss of her son Archie, who died just moments after he was born premature in 2009.
Writing for The Sun newspaper, she said: "Even when the expert team knew there was no hope of saving his life, they never stopped giving their all to help me – both physically because they feared I had contracted sepsis, and mentally as I struggled to come to terms with the awful pain of losing a child.
"I simply would not have got through that process alone – I wouldn’t be here without them.
"The staff were so dedicated and so caring that some of them even came to his funeral, which I will never forget."
The 43-year-old actress admitted seeing some of the staff at his funeral "meant the world", and also revealed how the UK’s National Health Service staff saved her nine-year-old daughter Polly’s life, even before she was born.
Opening up on being in hospital over Christmas three months before she gave birth, she said: "Even when the staff must have been thinking about their own families and wishing they were at home with their loved ones, their kindness, support and care for me never wavered.
"They were with me every step of the way.
"Once she was born and needed care on the high dependency baby unit, they raced back and forth to check on her for me, updating me with how she was doing, reassuring me that she was beginning to breathe without a ventilator, that she was safe."