Former Coronation Street star Chris Fountain suffers mild stroke at 35

Former Coronation Street Star Chris Fountain said he could “talk like a toddler” after suffering a mild stroke. stroke at the age of 35.

The actor, who played Weatherfield player Tommy Duckworth in the long-running soap opera between 2011 and 2013, told the Daily Mirror he spent five days in a London hospital in August after waking up at home unable to speak properly.

Chris told the newspaper that doctors diagnosed him with a transient ischemic attack (TIA) – a so-called mini-stroke – after a blood clot became lodged in his brain.

Chris Fountain (Photo: Mike Marsland via Getty Images)

“I woke up one morning and knew something was wrong,” Chris said.

“My mother called me and I just couldn’t get the words out. I walked around the house and looked at things. The word came to me, like TV or refrigerator, 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 couldn’t get the words out. I spoke like a toddler and I was really embarrassed.”

Chris said he burst into tears when doctors told him he had suffered a TIA.

After several days of intensive examinations in a specialist stroke unit at the Royal London Hospital, doctors discovered that the actor had a hole in his heart, which had caused a blood clot to travel to his brain and trigger the stroke.

Chris is currently working with a speech therapist to retrain his brain, and although he has regained 90% of his speech, he admits he still struggles with reading aloud and often stumbles over his words.

He will also need surgery to close the hole in his heart and hopefully prevent further blood clots from traveling to his brain.

“When you go through something like that, you realize how fragile life is. It can really be ripped away from you at any time,” Chris added.

“I feel like this is the wake-up call I needed to live my life to the fullest and stop worrying about little things.”

This article originally appeared on HuffPost UK and has been updated.

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