Michael Le Vell spoke a guy who lost part of his legs from sepsis after initially only suffering a sore throat, as part of his ‘Coronation Street’ research into the hard-hitting storyline.
The 53-year-old actor’s ‘Corrie’ character Kevin Webster was left devastated this week when he gave doctors the green light to amputate his son Jack Webster’s (Kyran Bowes) leg after the youngster was struck down with sepsis – a serious complication of an infection, also known as blood disease.
And Michael has been "surprised" by some of the real-life stories he’s heard.
He said: "What the show does is well is it picks the right moments to shock, and when not to shock.
"We’re only playing pretend but to lots of families out there it’s real life.
"I was talking to a guy last week, Matthew. He and his wife went on honeymoon three years ago and both got a sore throat. His wife responded to the antibiotics, he ended up with five months in hospital, five months in a coma, five cardiac arrests, lost part of his legs.
"This is just from a sore throat on honeymoon.
"I was surprised how quick it [sepsis] can affect the body."
Michael is hoping he can do the story "justice" by putting in a strong performance.
He said: "I want to give my part justice, which is the performance. The writers have given it justice by doing their research. It’s also a bit of public information."
What’s more, the soap stalwart – who has played Kev since 1983 – feels "fortunate" that he has been on the cobbles for such a long time.
Speaking on BBC Radio Manchester, he added: "It’s been my life. I’ve been very fortunate that they’ve wanted me for so long. I love the job, the people, the cast, the crew."
Michael Le Vell’s hard-hitting Corrie research
