Warwick Davis and his family are facing a “difficult next chapter” as new details about his beloved wife’s death come to light. At this week’s inquest, it was determined that the actress, who was just 53 years old when she passed away in March last year, died as a result of a cardiac arrest following complications of essential surgery.
Sadly, just a few years before saying goodbye to Samantha for the last time, Surrey-born actor Warwick was left facing a future without his wife after she became gravely ill ahead of a family caravan holiday in 2019. At first, Samantha believed she had just overexerted herself, but when it got to the stage where she was unable to stand, the couple realised something was seriously wrong.
In a 2022 interview with The Sun, Warwick, 55, recalled how an out-of-hours doctor recognised Samantha’s symptoms as a suspected case of sepsis and urged them to head to A&E “immediately”. Sepsis is a rare yet serious medical condition that can occur when the immune system has an extreme reaction to an infection and starts attacking its own tissues and organs.
When the condition progresses to septic shock, people can experience dangerously low blood pressure and potential organ shutdown. This can result in amputations and even death. Once they reached the hospital, doctors are said to have expressed concern about a scar on Samantha’s back from her recent spinal surgery that was found to be “inflamed with fluid, red, and hot to touch”.
After taking samples of this fluid, doctors discovered deadly A Streptococcus bacteria and meningitis infection. It was at this point that the family were informed that “Sam could die” if she didn’t receive immediate treatment. Warwick remembered: “Our family gathered by her bedside; although optimistic, we were sort of saying goodbye in case Sam didn’t survive.”
Although the surgery was a success, this was far from the end of the ordeal, with Samantha spending the subsequent “vital” hours in intensive care, where she was given strong antibiotics to fight the infection. Samantha made it through, and in the three months that followed, dedicated husband Warwick tended to his wife with great care, even mixing vials of antibiotics, which he fed into Sam’s heart using a drip.
Reflecting at the time, Warwick said: “I broke down every night thinking that this terrible illness that came out of nowhere might take my soulmate away from me. To this day, Sam still feels the effects of sepsis and some PTSD from her experience. If I’m completely honest, I do too. We never take life for granted now, living each day as if it were our last. I appreciate and cherish every moment that Sam and I spend together.”
Sadly, Samantha’s health took another turn when, on February 7, 2024, she was admitted after suddenly losing mobility in her lower limbs following a disc prolapse, BBC News reports. That same month, Samantha underwent a thoracotomy procedure – an operation where the chest wall is opened.
One month later, her condition was found to have improved following another thoracotomy, and staff at London’s University College Hospital at Westmoreland Street had been planning to discharge her.
Tragically, this was not to be, and at 23:25 on March 23, the beloved mum went into cardiac arrest. An attempt was made to resuscitate Samantha, but medics were unable to save her, and she was pronounced dead at 00.28, on March 24.
At Samantha’s inquest, Senior Coroner for Inner West London, Professor Fiona Wilcox, stated: “I am satisfied that the medical cause of death should be arrhythmic cardiac arrest and complications following left thoracotomies.
“In my view, the stress of everything together has precipitated this arrhythmic cardiac arrest in a lady who was not known to have any previous arrhythmia problems.” She continued: “I have found nothing but excellent care being delivered to this lady, and all of her complications were appropriately managed. It is frankly heartbreaking that the surgery itself was successful only for complications to arise and to cause her death.”.
Meanwhile, David Lawrence, a cardiothoracic surgeon at University College London Hospitals (UCLH), said Samantha’s condition was “progressing well”. The mum had a surgical chest drain removed on March 19, 2024, with a final drain removed on March 23.
Giving evidence, Mr Lawrence explained: “Very sadly, on the night this happened the original plan had been that she would be discharged home the following day. We had good evidence that this patient had a chest x-ray that was acceptable, very stable observations, and this patient did not bleed during the day.”
He proceeded to add that he did not believe the hospital “would have done anything differently”, describing Samantha as having been a “delightful lady”.
Ahead of the inquest, Samantha’s family issued a statement via their representatives from Irwin Mitchell, sharing: “We know that the resilience and strength Sammy instilled in all of us will guide us through this difficult next chapter. Her love, support, and determination is a legacy we want to continue.
“Sammy’s Helping Hands fund’, which was set up in her honour, has already had a huge impact on young people in the dwarfism community, and will continue to support families all over the UK moving forwards.”
They continued: “The last year and trying to come to terms with Samantha’s death has been incredibly difficult. However, we hope that the inquest will at last provide us with answers. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their kindness and well wishes to us all.”
Warwick and Samantha were married for 33 years, tying the knot in 1991 after meeting as teenage actors on the set of the 1988 film Willow. They went on to have children but tragically lost their firstborn son, Lloyd, when he was just nine days old. The couple also suffered the terrible loss of another son, George, when Samantha was 19 weeks pregnant and suffered two additional miscarriages before welcoming daughter Annabelle, now 28.
Actress Annabelle has followed in her parents’ footsteps, starring in shows such as The Dumping Ground, Hollyoaks, and The Witcher. She even appeared in a Disney+ reboot of Willow, the film that first brought her parents together. Son Harrison, who was named in honour of Hollywood icon Harrison Ford, is also an actor. Just like his dad, and his namesake, 22-year-old Harrison has made a name for himself in the Star Wars universe, appearing as Pommet Warwick in the 2019 movie, Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker.
Following their mother’s death, Annabelle and Harrison stated that their late mother’s “love and happiness carried us through our whole lives”. In his own statement, shared with the BBC, Warwick described his wife as his “most trusted confidant and an ardent supporter of everything I did in my career”, adding: “She was a unique character, always seeing the sunny side of life she had a wicked sense of humour and always laughed at my bad jokes.”
In February, while received this year’s BAFTA Fellowship – the British Academy’s highest honour – Warwick once again pad tribute to his beloved Samantha, saying: “She was always so supportive of my career, encouraging me to grab every opportunity with both hands. “Since then life has been pretty tough for me. Thanks to the support of our wonderful children I’ve been able to continue working and engaging in life.”
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