22 Kids and Counting star rushes daughter, five, to hospital while mum Sue heads on Lapland getaway

Lydia Davies

By Lydia Davies


Published: 09/12/2025

- 18:44

The mother-of-three rushed her daughter to the hospital at 4am as flu outbreak sweeps Britain

Millie Radford rushed her eldest daughter Ophelia to hospital in the early hours of Sunday morning after her grandaughter fell seriously ill with influenza.

The 24-year-old mother-of-three from Morecambe shared an image of the five-year-old looking flushed and wrapped in a red blanket.


“We’re both so poorly, especially Ophelia. We were in hospital till 4am,” Ms Radford wrote alongside the photograph.

Her husband Harley Passmore later shared his concern, posting: “Ophelia and Millie are totally wiped out with the flu. Awful seeing both of them like this.”

Millie Radford, Harley Passmore and daughter Ophelia

Millie Radford, Harley Passmore and daughter Ophelia

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The illness has swept through the family home, with Millie's younger children, Chester, three, and Elodie, two, also falling unwell.

The hospital trip comes as health officials warn that Britain is facing an exceptionally severe flu season, with fears of an unprecedented wave of infections.

Professor Julian Redhead, national medical director for urgent and emergency care, said: “Cases are incredibly high for this time of year and there is no peak in sight yet.”

A virulent H3N2 strain is driving the crisis after multiple mutations reduced immunity over the summer months.

Millie Radford and Harley Passmore

Millie and Harley celebrated their one year wedding anniversary this week

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Hospital admissions for flu rose 56 per cent last week compared with the same period in 2024, with an average of 1,717 beds taken up in England each day.

Schools have even been forced to shut temporarily as hundreds of pupils fall ill at once.

While Millie and Ophelia recover at home, her mother, Sue Radford, has been enjoying a pre-Christmas trip to Lapland with several of her youngest children.

Sue described the snowy holiday as “magical” as the children played in the snow and rode with reindeer.

Millie Radford Instagram post

Millie Radford's Instagram story today

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Images showed delighted youngsters exploring the Arctic landscape.

The youngest on the trip was five-year-old Heidie, Sue’s 22nd child.

The Radfords previously visited Lapland in 2021, and the family remains popular through their Channel 5 show 22 Kids and Counting.

Sue and Noel, who have 22 children, officially stopped growing their family in 2023.

However, the clan continues expanding through grandchildren, with their 14th grandchild born in April when daughter Chloe welcomed her second child.

Millie is the third-eldest daughter in the family and often appears in the Radfords’ YouTube vlogs, which give viewers a glimpse into their hectic household.

She first became a mother at 19 when she had Ophelia in 2020, choosing to keep the identity of the child’s father private.

She later had Chester and Elodie with Harley Passmore, whom she married in November 2024.

Millie Radford with daughter Ophelia

Millie Radford with daughter Ophelia

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Despite her upbringing in Britain’s largest family, Millie says she has no plans to follow in her parents’ footsteps.

Speaking on This Morning earlier this year, she joked: “I always say, ‘Why did my mum ever have more than three kids? Never more than three.

“When you have two, you’ve got enough hands, when you have three, you don’t have that spare hand.”

She insists three children is “enough” for her.