Lily-Rose Depp's childhood health battle that saw her almost die in hospital
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Actress Lily-Rose Depp will appear in one of the year's most anticipated films this month, but her life very nearly took a devastating turn. Lily-Rose, who stars as Ellen Hutter in the acclaimed new horror flick Nosferatu, has suffered various health problems and, in 2007, came close to death after contracting a serious e.coli infection, which led to acute kidney failure.
Her father, the legendary Hollywood actor Johnny Depp, had been shooting the dark musical Sweeney Todd when his daughter was hospitalised at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. Johnny, 61, later spoke tearfully of the three agonising weeks he spent at his daughter's bedside, which he looks back on as "the darkest period of his life".
During an appearance on The Graham Norton Show in 2015, the Sleepy Hollow actor spoke of how he still visits Great Ormond Street while in character as Pirates of the Caribbean's Captain Jack Sparrow, offering the young patients and their families a much-needed "smile or giggle".
He revealed: "For me, it's a gift. They give me the gift. When my daughter was ill in Great Ormond Street it was the darkest period of my life. I'd always done these visits but after that experience the visits became more and more important. "The kids are so courageous, but to be able to bring a smile or a giggle to the parents means everything in the world to me.".
Lily-Rose, 25, who features on this month's cover of Harper's Bazaar UK, was just seven years old when she fell gravely ill, and it's an experience that's clearly stuck with devoted dad Johnny. In 2020, Johnny opened up about his family's ordeal once again during a deeply personal speech given at a ceremony held by Rhonda's Kiss, a charity which provides support to cancer patients, including non-medical support, transportation, and critical living expenses.
