Former Emmerdale star Hayley Tamaddon has announced she has been diagnosed with meningitis after worrying fans with a hospital snap at the weekend.
The 45-year-old, who is known for her role as Delilah Dingle in the ITV soap, shared a picture of herself on an IV drip on Tuesday (August 30), while lying in a hospital bed on her Instagram stories over the weekend. The mum-of-one captioned the post: "Not the greatest of weekends."
Hayley previously told fans she was suffering from long Covid symptoms after contracting the disease earlier this year. The actress said she now feels very "rundown", had a permanent headache, ringing in her ears and no energy.
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She wrote in a post on Instagram: "I’m usually like a Duracell bunny and have so much energy.. and I want to get that back so I feel well enough to run around after Jasper, and get back to doing some exercise!"
Hayley, who made her Emmerdale debut in 2005, has now returned to social media and explained that she had a brain scan after feeling her “head might explode”, leading to her concerning diagnosis.
Taking to social media once more, the soap star issued a lengthy statement, she said: "Last weekend did not go as planned…and I ended up in hospital with meningitis. I got poorly very quickly. And my temperature wasn't coming down it was going up. The light hurt my eyes and my head felt like it might explode. My neck was stiff and my body ached."
She then explained: "I rang a family friend Anthony Kearns who is a doctor at Blackpool Hospital A&E department and told him my symptoms and he told me to get to hospital asap."
Hayley continued: "I was taken into a cubicle and straightaway the amazing doctor, Dr Karun, said I think this is meningitis, but at that stage they weren’t sure if it was bacterial or viral. So I was given strong antibiotics through a drip. Then a brain scan and a lumbar puncture confirmed it was viral. And a few days later I was sent home."
The actress went on to thank the doctors and nurses at Blackpool hospital for "taking care of me", naming them individually before highlighting one in particular named Caitlin, who "held my hand through the lumbar puncture". The mum-of-one said: "I squeezed it that tight I honestly thought I’d broken her fingers.
"There were many others whose names sadly escape me. But they were all incredible humans. And I am truly grateful."
The comments section was quickly flooded with well wishes, Blackpool's Emergency Department Twitter account were among the first to respond to Hayley's post. "Thank you Hayley for your kind feedback & special mentions. It’s really much appreciated. Get well soon," they responded.
Hayley's showbiz pals were quick to send their love, former Corrie co-star Samia Longchambon penned: "Massive hugs Hayley.. rest up." Another Corrie star Georgia Taylor, who plays Toyah Habeeb, commented: "Oh gosh darling, you poor thing! So glad to hear you’re doing ok now. Sending love."
While presenter Gaby Roslin wrote: "Oh my word. Sending you you big hugs and wish you a speedy recovery." Former X Factor winner Joe McElderry said: "Glad your okay." And CBBC and ITV star Dr Ranj Singh replied: "Get well soon darling one."
Earlier this year, Hayley announced that she had split from fiancé Adrian who she shares her son Jasper with. In a post on Twitter she wrote: “This Mother’s Day is very different for me as I am now a single mum.
"Mine and Jaspers life has been turned upside down over the last few months.. but I realise the best thing to come out of all of this is Jasper."
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