Mary Berry's heartaches - polio battle that still affects her and son's tragic death

Mary Berry is the twinkly-eyed queen of baking, but beneath her chipper exterior is years of pain that inspired her no-nonsense, tenacious attitude.

In her childhood, Mary battled a life-threatening illness which still affects her to this day, and years later her son died when he was just 19 in a horror car accident.

Mary and her husband Paul John March Hunnings married in 1966, and they welcomed three children together: Annabel, William and Thomas.

But tragically, William died before he reached 20, something Mary admitted she "never got over".

In the documentary The Mary Berry Story, the former Bake Off judge explained William had travelled back from university on a Friday night.

Mary was so excited to see him that she made a special roast dinner for the whole family.

Get the news you want straight to your inbox. Sign up for a Mirror newsletter h er e .

"I remember him walking through the door and asking 'Who is coming?' And I said, 'It's for you, it's so lovely to see you and have you here,'" she recalled.

The following morning, William asked his parents if he could borrow their car for a trip into town.

But heartbreakingly, he never returned home again.

Mary remembered: "It was about 1pm. The doorbell rang and a policeman was there. Immediately, I knew why.

"He said, 'There's been an accident and I'm sorry to say your son is dead'."

"The staff were so understanding," the 89-year-old continued.

"They said, 'Would you like to see William?' He looked so beautiful and so lovely. His cold face... It was nice to say farewell."

The following day, she and her family went to church as usual, when Mary saw a memorial plaque created by a mother who lost three sons in the First World War.

"I looked and knew how I was feeling having lost one," Mary added.

"I thought about how she must have felt having lost three. Then I thought how lucky we were to still have our other two children.

"We had William for 19 years and he was so much fun. We have great memories."

Mary's inspiring attitude to hardship may have been inspired by her battle with polio, an infectious disease which most people are now vaccinated against, when she was 13.

The national treasure spent three months in hospital and was left with lifelong changes to her body which still impact certain aspects of her cooking ability.

Having been confined to her bed with a raging temperature and aching muscles, it was initially thought she had a bad case of the flu.

But her conditioned worsened and she was put in isolation in a Bath hospital and left alone for three days with no explanation.

Feeling alone and terrible, Mary just wanted her parents by her side but they were forced to be separated behind a glass partition.

"During their visits, I was in floods of tears," wrote Mary in her 2013 autobiography, Recipe For Life.

"I just couldn’t understand why Mum wasn’t coming in to give me a cuddle, to talk to me and comfort me. It must have been terribly upsetting for them."

Eventually she was moved to another hospital on a ward with children being treated for tuberculosis.

One day she got the most astonishing surprise when her father walked four miles from their home to the hospital with a special visitor.

In a scene which would be unimaginable in a hospital nowadays, Mary's dad rocked up at her bedside with her pony Kerry Lass.

"Can you imagine that happening in a hospital today?" asked Mary.

"I remember being so thrilled on that day - not just because seeing Kerry Lass gave me hope that I’d get out of there, but at the thought of Dad taking the trouble to walk that pony all the way from home to see me."

After a total of three horrific months in hospital, Mary was finally allowed to go back home.

While it was a traumatic ordeal, Mary said the forced period of isolation "toughened her up" and taught her to make the most out of every opportunity given to her.

The other silver lining was that she had a renewed interest in domestic science classes and quickly started experimenting in the kitchen - which paid off and turned into a career spanning decades.

Mary was left with some permanent damage to her body, including a twisted spine, a weaker left hand and thinner left arm.

Some viewers mistakenly think that she has arthritis, she revealed, but she thinks she was lucky.

"I was immensely fortunate. I only had it on my left side and I’ve got a funny left hand," she told Radio Times.

"Everybody thinks I’ve got arthritis. I look a bit funny when I’m rolling pastry but I have no other difficulties whatsoever.

"I mean, I’m not as good at sport as I was, but I was let off very lightly. I’m grateful."

* Mary Berry's Festive Feasts airs on Monday at 7:05pm on BBC One

Do you have a story to share? Email webfeatures@trinitymirror.com

Read More

Dame Mary Berry nibbled by bed bugs during the making of early season of Bake Off

Read More

Paul Hollywood a star baker during his night shift at girlfriend's pub kitchen