Emmerdale’s Mark Jordon pays tribute to wife Laura Norton and rarely seen daughter Poppy for International Women’s Day
EMMERDALE star Mark Jordon has paid a sweet tribute to his wife Laura Norton and rarely seen daughter Poppy, in celebration of International Women’s Day.
The actor, 58, and his wife, 39, have both starred in Emmerdale, and share two adorable children together.
Posting a snap on social media of the women in his life, he wrote: “Happy international woman’s day to the most incredible woman in my life . @aura_nots Poppy Jordon, Ronnie Jordon.”
Mark shares Poppy with his ex-wife Siobhan Finneran, who he split from in 2014.
The couple recently welcomed their second child, baby girl Ronnie, in October of last year.
But the newborn stage has been difficult for Laura, who plays Kerry Wyatt, and Mark, who played Daz Spencer, after a series of health issues for both of their children.
And last month the couple have revealed both Jesse and Ronnie have been diagnosed with Usher syndrome.
While the parents had suspected their first child also had the condition in 2021, they kept the news under wraps.
The rare genetic disease affects both hearing and vision in young children, requiring them to wear hearing aids throughout their lives, and face possibly losing their sight.
Laura admitted they were suffering a knock back with adjusting to the news, that left her “in tears”.
Speaking to Hello! magazine, the couple said they knew by “intuition” that something wasn’t right with the little ones.
“My intuition told me there was a serious problem and I was in tears at the thought of it,” she said, ahead of the couple taking Ronnie and Jesse for testing.
It revealed that both Laura and Mark carried the gene which causes the condition, which would eventually cause their children to lose their sight.
Laura continued: “Knowing that we’d passed this on to our son was heartbreaking.
“To watch our little boy enjoy the world around him yet know so much will be taken from him, was painful.”
Two-year-old Jesse already wears a hearing aid, which means he can “hear aeroplanes in the sky before we can”.
Despite the heartbreak, Laura and Mark said they were pleased the two children could have each other, rather than dealing with the condition alone.