Sir David Jason's touching show of support to Nicholas Lyndhurst after his son died

Only Fools and Horses' Sir David Jason has been praised for the support he showed his co-star Nicholas Lyndhurst after the death of his son.

Nicholas Lyndhurst, 61, starred alongside Jason in the hit show which ran from 1981 until 2003, and he was a key support when tragedy struck Lyndhurst's family in 2020.

This happened when his son, Archie Lyndhurst, 19, was found dead in his sleep.

The CBBC star, who had followed his dad's footsteps to work in front of the screen, passed away from a brain haemorrhage.

CBBC

As reported by the Express, a postmortem confirmed that he died from an intracerebral haemorrhage that was triggered by lymphoblastic leukaemia - a rare type of cancer.

The event, understandably, devastated his family, and one of the biggest supports the actor had at this difficult time was his co-star Jason.

A source told The Sun: "He's been in regular touch ever since and - like everyone else who cares for Nick and his family - is just trying to provide whatever support he can."

News of Archie's death was announced on social media by his mum, Lucy Smith, who said that her family's world 'blew apart' when he passed in September 2020, creating 'irreparable' damage.

She wrote: "Archie was, and always will remain our everything."

The bereaved mum went on to address her son's life and legacy, and the fact that he had been in the entertainment industry for some time, beginning his career at the age of 11.

She said his dad 'couldn’t be prouder' of everything Archie did 'in the short time he was given.'

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The mum explained that the family were told by doctors that there was nothing they could have done to prevent their son's untimely death.

"Life is fragile, precious and sometimes incredibly cruel," she wrote.

After the death was announced and Jason rushed to be with his friend, Lyndhurst released a statement where he revealed that he and his wife were utterly 'grief stricken'.

News of Jason's actions after the untimely death of Archie comes after he recently revealed that while he and his Only Fools and Horses co-star were close two years ago, they have now 'drifted apart'.

The Del Boy actor told the Radio Times: "He's much more, how can I say, self-contained, perhaps, than he used to be.

"So, unfortunately, we don't see each other as much as I'd like to. But that's how things work out sometimes."

Emma Guinness