16 hours ago
Britain's biggest family faces terrifying medical scare as Harley, 24, is rushed to hospital with a 'stroke' after noticing unusual symptom when drinking a bottle of coke
Britain's biggest family the Radfords faced a terrifying medical scare as Harley Radford was rushed to hospital with the symptoms of a suspected stroke in the latest episode of 22 Kids And Counting.
Harley Passmore, 24, is married to Sue and Radford's eldest daughter, Millie, 23 - and the couple share two children, Chester, three, and Elodie, one, while Millie also has Ophelia, four, from a previous relationship.
During the latest episode of the Channel 5 show, which aired on Sunday, Millie, from Morecombe in Lancashire, and Harley, were seen having a big disagreement about whether he should adopt Ophelia.
But the row was soon pushed to the background as mother-of-three Millie was left in a state of panic when her husband was rushed to hospital with stroke symptoms.
Harley was taken to hospital and given an MRI as he was slurring his words, had a lopsided face, felt dizzy and had weakness down one side of his body.
Millie stayed the night with her husband as Sue and Noel looked after their three children. Harley - who had high blood pressure - told the camera: 'I'm panicking that I've had a stroke, I shouldn't be having a stroke at 24.'
Recounting how he felt, the father admitted he'd first noticed something was wrong after drinking a bottle of Coke.
He said: 'This morning I was fine and I've gone to work and I was there for two hours and I had a drink out of a Coke bottle and it felt really wonky. My face went really droopy.
'Next thing I felt really weak in the left side of my body and I felt a bit dizzy and a bit drowsy so I went home.'
He then called the emergency services, who sent an ambulance because they thought it may have been a stroke.
However, the MRI results revealed that Harley suffered from Bell's palsy, a temporary weakness or lack of movement that usually affects 1 side of the face, and not a stroke, as initially thought.
'When I thought Harley was having a stroke, it was scary,' Millie said. 'He was worried and I was worried because of the paralysis side of it. What if he had never been able to cope with three kids again after that? Or handle his life before that?'
This health scare led her to reconsider her husband becoming Ophelia's adopted father.
Millie and Harley, 24, first got together when Ophelia was six months old and he has been eager to adopt her ever since, as he 'treats her like my own'.
He told the show: 'We can't leave Ophelia out. When she gets a bit older, she will start to understand [and question] "Why is my name different to Chester and Elodie's and mummy's and daddy's?"'
But Millie was not keen on the idea, as she has not told her daughter that Harley is not her biological father. 'I would worry for Ophelia. [She's] only four and it's a lot to deal with at such a young age,' she said.
The disagreement led to a big argument, with Harley questioning whether his wife thought he was an 'an incomplete father' or 'not a good enough dad'.
The row came to a head after a panicked Millie called her mother Sue and told her Harley was being blue-lighted to hospital with stroke symptoms, as she admitted feeling guilty about their squabble.
She said: 'I felt guilty straight away, wondering whether our arguing had caused all of it. If something happened to him, how would I feel then?'
She added: 'It's made me change my mind because if anything was to happen to her, I know that Ophelia would have loved for Harley to be her dad so that is what I am going to make happen.'
Millie said that she was initially worried about how her eldest daughter would react if she found out that Harley was not her biological father.
'Ophelia's biological dad is not on the birth certificate because he never wanted him to be and I never wanted him to be on it,' she said.
'I think just because he wasn't interested at all when I was pregnant and he wasn't interested when she was born. He said, when I told him I was pregnant, "I'm not ready to be a dad". Because Ophelia's birth father isn't on the certificate, it should be easy enough for Harley to adopt Ophelia. He can see she's happy, she's got a dad that loves and cares for her.'
However, the process was much more tedious than the couple expected and they were told that a social worker would have to speak to Ophelia and break the news that Harley is not her 'real dad'.
They were told that they would have to involve her biological father in the process and that they would all have to go to court in order to pass the decision.
Millie said: 'Maybe if we got in touch with him, he might be like "Oh well I want something to do with her now" and it's a lot for Ophelia. That would be a big concern for me, yeah.'
The parents decided to see a solicitor to see if there were other options for Harley to become more legally involved in Ophelia's life.
They were told that a step-parental responsibility agreement could be put in place to transfer some of Millie's rights over to Harley, meaning he would get 'exactly the same rights in terms of decision making'.
The lawyer described the process as 'much quicker and more simple', adding: 'You can have input into any decision regarding her life [for example] what surname she has, what school she goes to, if she needed an operation, you would be able to consent to that.'
At the time the episode was filmed, Ophelia had a different surname to Millie, Harley and her siblings, Chester and Elodie.
The solicitor reiterated that once the documents were signed, the agreement would be a permanent decision which could only be overturned by a court.
However, Harley and Millie agreed to sign the document, which was legally witnessed by the family court.
She said: 'It was a big thing for me to give over some rights to Harley. We both share the same rights now. But I know that Harley sees Ophelia exactly how he sees Elodie and Chester, which is nice and I think he deserves it.'
But Harley hinted that he still yearns for more, adding that it is a 'big thing' that he is still not on Ophelia's birth certificate.
The Radfords had a party by the beach where they were popping open bottles of bubbly to celebrate Harley becoming more involved in Ophelia's life.
Sue said: 'From the beginning, Harley has been Ophelia's dad, I think it's lovely.'
Millie added: 'It's nice that we're all going to have the same last nice. It's not full adoption but it is the next best thing.'
But when their backs were turned, Harley took a stroll down the beach and decided to message Ophelia's biological father without telling his wife, despite her not wanting to contact him.
Millie said she had not spoken to the father since she was 21 weeks pregnant with her eldest child, which was more than four years ago.
Harley attempted to justify his decision, telling the camera crew: 'Even though I've got the rights, I do want it on Ophelia's birth certificate to say I'm her father. I've just messaged Ophelia's biological father.
'I've put "I don't want to upset you but me and Millie are married and we have two kids of our own. I'd really like to adopt Ophelia."
'I can't help the way I feel, I've put almost four years into Ophelia's life. I know she'd want me to her dad.'
The episode ended with the family questioning where Harley had walked off to, unaware of who he had texted.
