Greg Rutherford’s daughter has suffered a nasty injury – so, naturally, he’s sharing the grim photographic evidence with us.
The Olympian and 2016 Strictly Come Dancing star, 39, has two sons and one daughter with his partner, Susie Verrill.
Just a day ago, the long jump athlete posted that five-year-old Daphne had been suffering from chicken pox for a month, praising the ‘little trooper’ after she developed impetigo and conjunctivitis straight after.
Calling it a ‘really worrying time’, Greg was relieved when she could finally return to school, only to receive his worst nightmare of a phone call.
Taking to Instagram on Sunday night, Greg shared a series of pictures of Daphne in hospital after breaking her arm.
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‘Poor Daph 😭 it’s only been a minute since she went back to school after chicken pox (and only a day since me posting about it) and while me and @susiejverrill were in Southampton, we had a call to say she’d had an accident at a park and it looked like she’d broken her arm,’ he wrote.
‘And indeed she has 😳 broken radius and ulna.’
He added: ‘Thanks so much to staff at Milton Keynes hospital for being incredible… she was so scared but they really put her at ease and she was made up with her matching broken arm-ed teddy.’
Greg confirmed that their daughter is now back home and ‘working out she can still do loads of stuff with just one arm’.
The snaps he shared showed Daphne’s little arm all bent out of place, which was then wrapped in a cast and put into a sling, with her brother clearly enjoying being able to draw on her bandages.
Still, the youngster kept a smile on her face as she posed next to her dad in her PJs, holding a big fluffy dog.
‘Sending lots of love❤️’, ex-Strictly pro Nadiya Bychkova commented.
‘Poor little thing. Hopefully she heals smoothly and quickly 🤍’, added Janette Manrara.
It’s fair to say 2026 has been a dramatic one for Greg and his family, as, in April, his seven-year-old son, Rex, was rushed to hospital for appendicitis.
‘We’ve had an eventful few days,’ Greg wrote on social media at the time. ‘Finished up with TCA Camps on Thursday to Rex going straight in to hospital with appendicitis that night.’
‘He was so brave start to finish and now back at home requesting all the food.
‘Think those hours he was nil by mouth has scarred him,’ he joked.
But this wasn’t Rex’s first A&E dash, as he was hospitalised in 2024 with a head injury.
Admitting that the apple clearly doesn’t fall far from the tree, given how his son is also accident-prone, Greg said on Instagram: ‘It would seem we have created my exact replica in Rexy.
‘Another head injury to leave another scar.
‘He’s got a few more to go to match me but he’s doing his best to catch.’
Greg, who is also a dad to son Milo, 11, is no stranger to an injury himself.
In 2018, he retired from long jumping due to ongoing struggles with an ankle injury, ending his 13-year career.
‘Whenever I try to sprint or jump, I have to take three days off because I am limping so much. In the end, it wears you down,’ he told The Guardian.
‘I still feel I am fast. I still feel as if I am super strong.’
Then, disaster struck again when Greg was forced to miss the Dancing On Ice final in 2024 when he sliced open his stomach.
He called the ordeal ‘horribly painful’, sharing that he had ‘effectively [given himself] a C-section’ when he tore his abdominal muscles after sliding through the legs of pro skaters Brendyn Hatfield and Colin Grafton.
Greg had to withdraw from the ITV contest the morning of the final, which was then won by Ryan Thomas and Amani Fancy.
Former Coronation Street actor Ryan sweetly dedicated his trophy to Greg, who had topped the leaderboard and been a hot favourite among viewers before being forced out.
‘Well done, brother. I’m glad I’ve got a friend for life in you,’ Greg told Ryan afterwards as he congratulated him, adding: ‘He’s had his fair share of ups and downs during his process, so to come out winning is utterly spectacular.’