Former Coronation Street star Chris Fountain has said he was left “speaking like a toddler” after suffering a mini stroke at the age of 35.
The actor, who played Weatherfield’s Tommy Duckworth in the long-running soap between 2011 and 2013, told the Daily Mirror he spent five days in a London hospital after waking up at home unable to speak properly in August.
Chris told the newspaper that doctors had discovered he had suffered a Transient Ischaemic Attack (TIA) – known as a mini stroke – after a blood clot lodged in his brain.
“I woke up one morning and knew something wasn’t right,” Chris said.
“My mum called me and I just couldn’t get my words out. I started walking round my house looking at things and I could think what the word was, like television or fridge, but I couldn’t say it.
“I called 111 on my mum’s advice and they sent an ambulance for me, it was so scary.
“I felt stupid because I knew exactly what I wanted to say to the doctors, but I couldn’t get the words out, I was speaking like a toddler, I was really embarrassed.”
Chris said he had broken down in tears when doctors informed him he had had a TIA.
After several days of undergoing tests at a specialist stroke unit at the Royal London Hospital, medics had determined the actor had a hole in his heart which had caused the blood clot to travel to his brain, triggering the stroke.
Chris is now working with a speech therapist to retrain his brain, and while he’s got 90% of his speech back, he admits he still struggles to read aloud and often stumbles over his words.
He will also undergo surgery to patch up the hole in his heart, which will hopefully prevent any more clots travelling to his brain.
“Going through something like this makes you realise just how fragile life is, it can really be snatched away from you at any moment,” Chris added.
“I feel like it’s the wake-up call I needed to live my life to the max and just not sweat the small stuff anymore.”