EastEnders star’s son rushed to hospital after eating “seriously toxic” plant

The son of former EastEnders star James Bye has been rushed to hospital after eating a “seriously” toxic plant.

The actor, who portrayed Martin Fowler before departing the BBC soap in February, tied the knot with wife Victoria in 2012 after four years of dating, with the couple welcoming four sons in the subsequent years.

Taking to Instagram on Friday (11 July), Victoria shared that the couple’s youngest son, Rufus, was admitted to hospital after he ate a plant from the garden, with the mother-of-four admitting that “all hell broke loose”.

“Within minutes his tongue had started to swell, he was screaming & we had to call 999,” she wrote: “Thankfully he’s absolutely fine now. But it turned out the culprit was Italian Arum, a really common plant with bright orange berries that looks innocent but is seriously toxic if ingested.”

“I had no idea. And once I started looking into it… turns out there are loads of plants like that quietly minding their own (deadly) business in UK gardens,” she continued, adding a list of garden plants that could cause harm.

james and victoria bye

james and victoria bye
Joe Maher
Related: EastEnders star James Bye responds to “bucket list” Glastonbury tribute

The post was also accompanied by a video of Victoria and Rufus, with the former beginning by saying that they’d had a “bit of a week” after the youngster had gone through a hectic “time” at home.

The post was warmly received by followers in the comment section, with one user writing: “Wow what a great post, thank you so much, my toddler regularly makes a snack of the pot plants down the bottom so will be checking them all out now.”

Related: EastEnders star confirms Julie’s show future ahead of heartbreaking return

“Thank you for sharing all this information,” wrote one other user, with another adding: “So glad Rufus is OK. It’s very scary when this happens… Well done Vicki on sharing all this information after what must have been a rough night. Sending Love to you all xxx”.

While James and Victoria are currently taking care of Rufus, it was recently revealed that EastEnders would pay tribute to the actor’s character, with Ian Beale preparing to reopen the vegetable stall in Martin’s honour.

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