Recalling the moment her daughter caught fire while dressed as a witch during a Hallowe'en party last year, the Strictly Come Dancing contestant said: "I was talking to somebody and then I heard her shout she was on fire. She went up, is the only way I know how to describe it. It was a spark. She screamed out for me."
Like any mother, Claudia remembers feeling like time stood still as she raced to her daughter's aid, revealing: "It feels like she was on fire for hours, but the surgeon said that it definitely wasn't the case and it was probably just seconds."
Explaining the impact her little girl's accident had on her, the 43-year-old television presenter told Watchdog viewers: "It was definitely life changing for me. I can't remember life before it."
Regretting everything about the ill-fated evening, Claudia admits: "I wish I had been dressed as the witch is mainly all I wish, that it happened to me. She went up and I don't want that to happen to another child."
Urging the public to consider the safety implications of certain fancy dress costumes, the mum-of-three said: "I would like parents to- just on Halloween, just to think about what they're going to put their kids in because I didn't, and it cost us."
Speaking at the time of her daughter's accident, Claudia said Matilda, who was treated at the Chelsea and Westminister Hospital for her injuries, was 'doing well and getting the best possible care."
