Emmerdale's Marlon Dingle is set to suffer a devastating stroke in heartbreaking scenes next week.
The long-running resident of the Yorkshire village - played by Mark Charnock - will be subjected to a terrible health battle next week, as Marlon suffers a life-threatening stroke on the ITV soap.
Bosses at the ITV soap are hoping to raise awareness of the warning signs that come before a stroke, whilst the storyline will be focused on how Marlon himself is coping with his own health, from his perspective.
The storyline will focus how both Marlon and his nearest and dearest cope with what has happened.
Emmerdale Producer, Laura Shaw, has spoken of the importance of the new storyline, sharing: "Warm, witty and kindhearted Marlon is undoubtedly one of Emmerdale's most loved characters and with Mark Charnock's sheer skill, craft and incredible range, it felt totally right to play such an incredibly important story as this.
"[Through this storyline], Marlon is highlighting that a stroke can happen at any time and showing the catastrophic consequences it can have on the person affected and their whole family."
She added: "As the story unfolds, we follow the tragic and heartbreaking long lasting repercussions it has on Marlon and his friends and family and how their love for each other shines through as they all pull together at this most difficult time."
The team at Emmerdale worked with the Stroke Association on the upcoming scenes.
Mark added: "Working with Emmerdale‘s research team and the Stroke Association on this storyline has been a total eye-opener for me. We hear the word “stroke” bandied around a great deal, but being confronted with the sheer weight of numbers in this country alone has been a shock. A stroke occurs every 5 minutes in the UK. Over 100,000 a year.
"More can and should be done to raise awareness and hopefully, this story can help with that. It’s an enormous responsibility to try and get it right for the survivors and their families and for those who’ve lost loved ones to this awful event. No two strokes are the same, but the after-effects are devastating. I’m very proud of the show for telling it and for letting me be a part of it."
Marlon's heartbreaking health battle will begin in scenes airing on the ITV soap next week.
*Emmerdale airs weekdays at 7.30pm on ITV.
