‘General Hospital’: Johnny Wactor Breaks Silence on the ‘Painful’ Death of His On-Screen Son

General Hospital characters go through all kinds of storylines, including extreme heartbreaks. Recently, Brando Corbin (Johnny Wactor) and his partner, Sasha Gilmore (Sofia Mattsson), experienced a deeply unfortunate turn of events when their infant son died at the hospital.

This storyline stirred up a lot of mixed reactions from viewers, including some who did not understand why the show had to deal such a tragic hand to this young couple. Wactor decided to address the recent events on social media.

Brando and Sasha’s son died shortly after birth

In the spring of 2021, Brando and Sasha had a one-night stand, which led to Sasha getting pregnant. The pair eventually became a couple as they prepared for parenthood together.

Sasha arrived at the hospital in mid-November to give birth. She was given an emergency C-section after doctors discovered a placental abruption. Furthermore, their baby boy suffered from brain damage due to a lack of oxygen and had to stay in the NICU for many days.

Still, Brando and Sasha hung on to the hope that their child would make it. The couple even named him Liam.

However, on Dec. 17, Brando and Sasha made the difficult decision to take Liam off of life support. 

Johnny Wactor explains why he believes storylines like this one are important

After Liam died on General Hospital, Wactor took to Twitter to address some fans’ reactions, especially the confusion as to why the show decided to air this storyline in the first place.

“I want to thank everyone for being so invested in watching Liam’s journey,” Wactor wrote. “It’s obviously an incredibly painful storyline that has left many of you with the question, simply put, Why?’”

He continued, “Why tell a story of two new parents, with a shaky foundation, but who have hope to maybe be something together, and then take away the greatest gift they’ve ever had before they even get to truly cherish and nurture that gift, their baby boy Liam? Why this story during one of, if not the roughest stretch of time in many our personal lives? Why during the holidays?”

Wactor went on to talk about the importance of this “painful” storyline from his perspective.

“We tell stories that are often times extreme, rare, and worst case scenario,” he explained. “These stories are painful. Painful to watch and painful to play. This story about Liam is especially devastating due to the child’s innocence and unfair circumstances.”

Wactor added, “Imagine the pain of those families that have suffered these circumstances in their own real lives. This story is for them. To show them that we see them. That something so terrible and seemingly uncommon and unbelievable can be recognized by the storytellers they watch and they get to see their story shared with millions of viewers. Perhaps, that brings them comfort in some way. Being seen.”

He also urged others to take inventory of things in life they can be grateful for, “especially during the holidays.”

“So often we can get caught up in buying gifts and receiving gifts and prioritizing such as the most important part of the holidays when really the most important is being with those you love and are still with you on these holidays,” Wactor said. “Life is precious and fragile and death, although inevitable for everyone, can come unexpected.”

Wactor ended his Twitter thread by thanking fans for being involved in Brando and Sasha’s journey and that it had “sparked such fervent conversation.”

Sofia Mattsson also shared a quick message for fans

A few days after Wactor’s tweets were posted, Mattsson also took to Twitter to share her own thoughts. The actor wrote a quick message of gratitude to fans who followed the storyline.

“I’m overwhelmed with gratitude for all your comments about little Liam’s storyline on GH,” Mattsson said. “I loved the challenge of acting out this beautifully written and heartbreaking story. I’m reminded to hug everyone I love extra hard this holiday season and never take a day for granted.”