‘Coronation Street’ actor Malcolm Hebden has given fans a health update, revealing he was put in a medically-induced coma towards the end of last year, after suffering cardiac arrest.
Malcolm plays Weatherfield busybody Norris Cole in the ITV soap, and is currently on an extended leave of absence for health reasons.
In a new interview with the Blackpool Gazette, the 78-year-old actor has now given further details of his condition, revealing the severity of his illness.
He explained: “Most of December I was in an induced coma, in the care of these brilliant, wonderful people at the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU). Fortunately I didn’t realise how bad it was; I was dying.”
Malcolm continued: “I was informed by my doctor I had had at least one heart attack. I was sent to hospital, by emergency ambulance to Blackburn hospital and was there one night. While there I collapsed and was brought here to Blackpool Victoria – where I was operated on, in a procedure which was described by my surgeon Mr Zacharias as groundbreaking.
“The heart attack tore a hole in my heart, they operated and took a chance.”
During the interview, he also revealed that doctors had been able to “wallpaper” his heart, in a procedure which took tissue from a cow’s.
While we’re pleased to hear Malcolm is now in recovery from his illness, there remains no indication of when he plans to return to filming on ‘Coronation Street’.
A representative for the show had no further comment when approached by HuffPost UK.