Call the Midwife star Stephen McGann speaks out after wife Heidi nearly died | Celebrity News | Showbiz & TV

Call the Midwife actor Stephen McGann has spoken bravely about the time his wife Heidi was left “fighting for her life” in a devastating health battle.

The 60-year-old actor, who has played Dr Patrick Turner on the BBC One show since it started back in 2012, revealed he was looking forward to becoming a widower after Heidi’s near death .

Speaking in Saga magazineOn the Christmas edition, he told the extremely painful incident.

“When Heidi was suddenly struck down with a restricted bowel and advanced sepsis, fighting for her life,” he said.

“My life was almost stripped of love and like Scrooge watching Marley’s ghost, I was shown another life.

“I walked a prospective widow’s walk with a young child, and then she came back to me.”

Stephen went on to credit the National Health Service for the support and care his family received, believing it to be the true inspiration for Call the Midwife.

“In a spiritual sense, that’s when Call the Midwife was born,” he said. “The NHS saved my life as a child, and Heidi’s. It’s personal to me.”

Stephen’s character, Dr Turner, is a local Poplar doctor who works closely with the show’s midwives to assist with deliveries and other issues.

In the second season of the show, the widower falls in love with Shelagh (Laura Main), a nun from Nonnatus House.

Although Shelagh’s vows initially strain their relationship, she eventually decides to leave the convent and accepts his proposal of marriage.

The couple are now the main relationships on the show, along with Dr Turner’s son Timothy Turner (Max Macmillan) and their other young children.

Call the Midwife will return for a special episode on Christmas Day.

The full article from the December issue of Saga Magazine can be found on www.exceptional.com.