Jane Danson has found it "quite overwhelming" working on her latest ‘Coronation Street’ storyline, and believes she has more "responsibility to get it right" than any of her previous plots.
The 41-year-old actress’ character Leanne Battersby is to discover her son Oliver has an incurable form of mitochondrial disease – which results in cell injury and cell death and can lead to whole organ systems failing – and the star has thrown herself into researching the hard-hitting storyline to ensure she can do it justice.
She said: "We’ve worked closely with Liz Curtis at The Lily Foundation.
"It was harrowing hearing the story of what happened to her daughter Lily but also really amazing to hear how people come through this, how they support each other and learn to live again.
"It’s almost too much to comprehend but I came away from the meeting bowled over by her bravery and how amazing she is as a human being.
"She shared with me how she felt emotionally, how she got through her days, how people rallied around her.
"I’ve also read a lot of literature about how families cope around their children’s diagnosis with life-limiting illnesses, looking at the human elements to their stories amidst all the medical speak and hoping I can get it right.
"It is quite overwhelming, I’ve been so lucky to have so many stories with Leanne over the last 20-odd years but this one feels different, this one could really break her and it feels like it’s the one where I’ve got the most responsibility to get it right."
Jane hopes the storyline will raise awareness of the disease and lead to more funding into research.
She added: "It’s not a very talked about disease or one which people know a lot about, but it does affect families with children with these conditions.
"I imagine it will provoke a mixed reaction, having said that if we look at the broader picture it is thought provoking and it is someone’s story.
"It happens more than it should so if we can get some awareness out there for those families and get some more funding into research then that can only be a positive."