Former Coronation Street and Emmerdale star Chris Fountain has revealed that he suffered a mini stroke.
The actor, 35, said he was left “speaking like a toddler” after he woke up one morning in August and was unable to speak properly.
Fountain told the Daily Mirror that he spent five days in a London hospital and was left fearing “life as I knew it was over”.
Fountain was diagnosed with a Transient Ischaemic Attack (TIA), which is also known as a mini stroke, after a blood clot was lodged in his brain.
While he has regained 90 per cent of his speech, the actor revealed he will now have to work with a speech therapist to relearn how to read aloud and not to stumble over his words.
“I woke up one morning and knew something wasn’t right. My mum called me and I just couldn’t get my words out,” he told the Mirror.
“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.”
Fountain added that he felt “stupid” because he knew exactly what he wanted to say to the doctors but he “couldn’t get the words out”.
“When the doctors confirmed I’d had a TIA and said the word stroke, I just couldn’t believe it, there was a moment of sheer panic just fearing what it meant for the rest of my life.
“Would I have another one? Would the next one be even worse and I’d lose the use of my arms or legs? I was really scared and just broke down in tears,” he added.
Fountain was initially admitted to Homerton University Hospital but was later transferred to the specialist stroke unit at The Royal London Hospital.
“The doctors said they saw some damage to the left hand side of my brain which is where your cognitive abilities are controlled from,” he continued.
“What’s scary is if I hadn’t have called 111 when I did and got to hospital so quickly I don’t know if that clot could have travelled to the wrong place in my brain, I could have died. That clot was like a ticking bomb in my head.”
According to the NHS, a TIA is caused by a temporary disruption in the blood supply to part of the brain.
This disruption can result in a lack of oxygen to the brain which can cause symptoms similar to a stroke.
The health service adds that a TIA does not last as long as a stroke, generally a few minutes to a few hours.
Symptoms of TIA include the face dropping on one side, not being able to lift both arms, and slurred speech.
Earlier this year Fountain revealed what it was like being fired from the ITV soap in 2013 after a video surfaced of him rapping about rape.
Fountain, who was 25 at the time of the video’s release, said on the Mancs on the Mic podcast in June this year: “My life, my job, my image, my reputation – everything was just ripped away. Within 24 hours. I didn’t leave my house for four days.”
