Former Coronation Street actor Chris Fountain, best known for playing Tommy Duckworth, posted a series of photos and videos on his Instagram to give his fans a health update. The star is set to undergo heart surgery on Friday.
Chris, who also played Justin Burton in Hollyoaks, was supported by his mum as he documented his journey to hospital. Chris suffered a Transient Ischaemic Attack (TIA) after a blood clot lodged in his brain and feared "life as he knew it" was over, writes The Mirror.
On Instagram he wrote: "So the day's arrived. Just walking to hospital. Got the mother here for moral support. Here we go." Chris then posted a snap of himself on a hospital bed ready for surgery before adding a video teasing his mum for being on her phone.
After undergoing a pre-op last month, Chris explained the operation he was due to have and said: "What they do is, go in through my groin, go up to my heart and put this thing through where the hole is and it leaves a metal umbrella and they pull it through, it leaves another little metal umbrella at the other side.
"Then my heart grows around it and hopefully, that should mean no more strokes and I'll have a little bionic heart.
"It's a little bit nerve-wracking as it's a heart procedure but apparently it's 99.9 per cent successful I'll have to take it easy for a week or so after it's done. So yeah, we do a marathon and then we go to do a heart operation, as you do."
After suffering the mini stroke last August and spending five days in a London hospital, Chris vowed to dedicate himself to raising awareness of the condition and last month he completed the London Marathon to raise money for the Stroke Association.
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