Coleen Rooney broke down in tears as she discussed her late sister Rosie in emotional scenes on her new Disney+ series about the Wagatha Christie scandal.
While explaining why the WAG struggles to open up about her worries, Coleen’s mother Colette McLoughlin revealed that it stemmed from growing up caring for Rosie, who passed away aged 14 in 2013 following her lifelong battle with Rett syndrome, a rare brain disorder that causes severe disabilities.
Colette shared: ‘Coleen keeps things to herself. She doesn’t want to be a burden and I can relate that back to Rosie. She was so special.’
The McLoughlins took Rosie in in as a foster child when she was two and while they previously just provided respite care, Coleen noted that ‘Rosie was different’.
She explained: ‘When Rosie came along she was a massive part of our lives. She was the sister that I never thought I was going to have.’
Heartbreaking: Coleen Rooney broke down in tears as she discussed her late sister Rosie in emotional scenes on her new Disney+ series about the Wagatha Christie scandal
Tragic loss: Rosie passed away aged 14 in 2013 following her lifelong battle with Rett syndrome, a rare brain disorder that causes severe disabilities (pictured in 2006)
Speaking to her mother and her father Tony, she continued: ‘I used to do her hair and used to love picking clothes with me mum for her. She brought that little bit extra to the house. We fell in love with her.’
Yet the family soon realised that Rosie was struggling with her development, and after a series of hospital tests she was diagnosed with Rett syndrome.
Coleen explained: ‘Rosie, she struggled. She couldn’t walk and talk and would be in pain and sick but she still put a smile on her face.
‘Sometimes she used to force a laugh out. I think it was just to make my mum and dad happy.
‘Gradually her brain wasn’t functioning so she couldn’t eat anymore, couldn’t talk, move.’
Rosie needed 24-hour care and after suffering from ‘lots of complications’ and being admitted to intensive care, Colette revealed the family decided to bring her home to spend her final days surrounded by her loved ones.
‘We had a sleepover, one last sleepover, all of us together,’ she explained. ‘And then we had a big party to celebrate her life.’
Breaking down in tears, Coleen said: ‘To lose a child is the worst thing that could ever happen to anyone but when you look back now she gave us so many good years of happiness and love.’
Family: Coleen reunited with her father Tony and mother Colette as they discussed Rosie’s final few days in emotional scenes on the Disney+ show
Feud: Coleen reflected on the upsetting time in her show as she revealed how she was able to uncover Rebekah Vardy was leaking stories to The Sun (pictured in 2016)
Revealing the impact Rosie’s death has had on her 10 years on, Coleen explained: ‘because of the things that have happened in my life, I try to be strong for others.
‘I don’t want people worrying about me when there’s other things going on in their life but sometimes I can crack.’
Colette went on to suggest that her daughter didn’t fully process the pain she’d been through until she found herself in America when Wayne transferred to D.C United.
She explained: ‘It’s been 10 years now and Coleen she never spoke about it much. In America she had a lot of time so she must have done a lot of thinking then.
‘But she hides a lot so it’s hard to say what is going on in her mind.’
Once living in the States, Coleen struggled with feelings of loneliness and being homesick. She admitted that she didn’t have any friends Stateside and her life was dedicated to ferrying sons Kai, 13, Klay, 10, Kit, seven, and Cass, five, to and from school.
Realising that his wife was struggling with the move, Wayne called his agent and told him they needed to return to the U.K.
With two years left on his contract with D.C. United, Wayne then inked a deal to return to England as a player-coach with EFL Championship side Derby County.
Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story is available to stream on Disney+ on Wednesday from 8am