It’s that time of year when millions of excited Brits are off for the school summer holidays but for many with severely handicapped children, travelling abroad is a incredibly difficult.
One such family battling the difficulties of coping with a child suffering complex needs just happens to be the Suchet family, Robert and Lisa, son and daughter in law of award winning TV and film actor Sir David Suchet.
In an exclusive interview with Daily Mail, Poirot star Sir David and his daughter-in-law, Lisa Suchet, 43, explain how the whole family has pulled together to get through.
‘Thank God over the years we have had a close relationship with grandad, David to help us get through it all,’ said Lisa.
Sir David, 79, who by his own admission has had a ‘lucky life’ became a household name playing Agatha Christie’s fastidious Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, for 25 years.
But he was devastated when his eldest grandchild was born brain damaged and also has a brain tumour.
‘It was a shock. Our darling grandson has Tuberous Sclerosis, a very rare incurable disease (in this case caused by a non inherited) gene mutation.
He explained. ‘He is now 11, but he is non-verbal.
‘He can walk, with a very particular gait. But he is a beautiful child.
‘I learned it was incurable, it was hard to take in, not many people have heard of it. So I’m now campaigning to raise awareness.’
Sir David, who also has a daughter, Katherine – a physiotherapist – with wife Sheila Ferris, added: ‘I have four lovely grandchildren. And we are a very close family.
‘But the years have passed and I now rent a place down in Wiltshire so Sheila and I can be on hand.’
Sir David says he probably inherited his caring paternal ways not from his own father, Jack Suchet, the eminent gynaecologist, who died in 2001, but through his maternal grandfather, James Jarche.
A warm hearted, kindly man, Jarche was the celebrated Fleet Street photographer renowned for taking the first picture of Edward VIII and mistress Wallis Simpson.
Jimmy, as he was known, always put his arm around Sir David and cuddled him when he was a little boy, recalls the actor, which is exactly what he now does with his own grandson.
‘You can’t cure or halt it what my grandson endures, you just have to get on with it,’ he said.
Meanwhile his son Robert Suchet and wife Lisa are busy preparing to take their two children to the Canary Islands for their summer holidays.
‘Travelling with a child so disabled is zero fun, he has known to have a massive meltdown in the airport!’ said Lisa with disarming honesty.
Lisa met ex Marine, Robert, as part of her Wiltshire extended social circle, she was aware he had a famous father, but he certainly didn’t make a ‘big thing’ out of it.
They wed in Sienna, Italy
After their son was born, Lisa freely admits in the early the marriage was under such strain she feared ‘we would not last’.
‘He didn’t walk until he was two and a half. His speech is badly affected and his behaviour is like a toddler. He doesn’t know how to chew and is still on pureed food.
‘His behaviour is constantly challenging , he screams and shouts, and persistently throws things. He gets through three outfits a day due to his problems eating food and toilet habits.
‘But in between all this he is so sweet, and loving.’
She added: ‘Not long after he was born I lost my own father, Ken, suddenly he was only 73, What with the new baby.
‘I was grief stricken. Thank God David stepped in a fatherly role, to provide a shoulder to lean on.
‘When we first told David the diagnosis, he was just off to Canada to do a theatre, we were all overwhelmed with grief. You grow this child and you grieve for what you thought his life would become, and the life he will never have.’
Sir David, a devout Christian, prayed for his grandson and continues to fight for his future.
Earlier this year he helped man the Room to Breathe garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show run by Tuberous Sclerosis Association, which won a gold medal.
‘Both our families have been marvellous,’ said Lisa.
‘And the thing is, my father in law might be famous but at the end of the day he doesn’t act grand, he constantly steps in to be a tower of support, he is a very spiritual man.’
