EastEnders star Cheryl Fergison opened up about the terrifying stroke she experienced earlier this year.
The actress, 59, is best-known for having played the loveable Heather Trott on the BBC soap from 2007 to 2012.
Ms Fergison recently gave a candid update on her health, revealing she’d suffered a life-changing stroke in May.
She recalled initially experiencing “a really bad headache in the back of my head,” before symptoms progressed.
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“I went to bed but couldn’t settle,” she told The Mirror. “When I got up in the night to go to the bathroom, my balance completely went and I had to stop myself from falling over.
“My whole right side felt numb, heavy and tingly.”
The actress quickly contacted her son Alex, who called an ambulance. Ms Fergison was rushed to a Blackpool hospital, where doctors confirmed she’d suffered a stroke.
The medical episode had a huge impact on the actress, who reflected: “One of the hardest things is to process what it does to you.
“One minute you’re walking, talking, going to the shops; the next your world is rocked. It’s shocking.”
She recalled: “I have had to retrain my brain. I couldn’t even pick up a penny at first.
“You lose the ability to coordinate your hands, to walk properly, your balance is gone.
“It’s frustrating and makes you angry. But I’ve started to recover – I am coming on in leaps and bounds now.”
Unfortunately, the stroke wasn’t the first major health woe the soap star has experienced.
Ms Fegison was diagnosed with womb cancer in 2015, only opening up publicly about the illness last year.
Appearing on ITV’s Loose Women last year, she explained how she wanted to urge women to “listen to their bodies,” as she had been forced to push for further investigation with medics.
“I think the thing is, if I hadn’t acted on what was going on with me, I don’t feel like I would have been here today,” she admitted.
She also shared how the late Dame Barbara Windsor, who played EastEnders icon Peggy Mitchell, had helped her out financially during the tough period.
“I went to the toilet and I’d explained everything was going on and I was going to have my operation very soon,” Ms Fegison shared.
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She continued: “I came back and Scott [Barbara Windsor’s husband] was there with a chequebook and she went, ‘Right, how much are your bills then?’
“And she literally wrote a cheque out to help me pay my bills and my mortgage. I just remember, just weeping, and you have people like this and people don’t know the generosity of people and what they do, it’s amazing. I’m forever grateful.”
