Coronation Street: Paul struggles to lift his wine glass
Paul Foreman’s motor neurone disease
Paul Foreman (played by Peter Ash) was recently diagnosed with motor neurone disease after suffering an accident at work which caused his early diagnosis.
He hid the diagnosis for weeks on end from his partner Billy Mayhew (Daniel Brocklebank) and his family.
The truth finally came out during Gemma Winter’s (Dolly-Rose Campbell) wedding when Paul was scared to dance in case he fell over.
Coronation Street boss Iain McLeod has confirmed Paul will die from the disease as there’s currently no cure for it.
To help portray the storyline as Paul’s health deteriorates, actor Peter Ash met with Rugby legend Paul Burrow who was diagnosed with MND in 2019.
On the same day, Peter and Daniel also filmed scenes that saw Paul tell Billy about his deteriorating health.
Peter explained: “It was quite emotional to film those scenes, especially as we had just met Rob Burrow that afternoon during lunch break.
“Jane [Hazlegrove] who plays Bernie, was saying that she was waiting behind the set to come on and just listening to the scene was making her emotional.
“Of course, in the scene, she doesn’t know yet, so she was saying she had to close her ears and think of something else. It’s just a beautifully-written scene as well so it was emotional.”
Carla Connor’s psychosis
Carla Connor (Alison King) has suffered more tragedies than most in Weatherfield and it soon came to a point when all the trauma and PTSD caught up to her.
Her psychosis began when she blamed herself for Rana Habeeb’s (Bhavna Limbachia) death when she failed to get the roof repaired.
Carla fled from the street but soon returned and had a psychotic episode which was shown from her point of view.
The Coronation Street icon began to refuse to take her medication, leaving her paranoid on unprecedented levels.
Carla was convinced that everyone was out to get her and escaped the flat before Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoigne) found her hoarding people’s mobile phones in her bag.
Roy Cropper (David Neilson), Johnny Connor (Richard Hawley), Michelle Connor (Kym Marsh) and Kate Connor (Faye Brookes) worked fast to contact the emergency services.
But Carla spotted a woman climbing the Victoria Street fireplace, and immediately followed, leaving Peter to follow her and being left heartbroken over how bad things were for his wife.
Carla made a full recovery and has been since working on her mental health and knowing when too much is enough.
However, serial killer Stephen Reid recently made her believe she was spinning out of control once again after continually spiking her drinks with LSD.
Taking note of how she was feeling, Carla has since decided to step away from her role at Underworld to take care of herself and her nephew Ryan Connor (Ryan Prescott).
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Peter Barlow’s alcoholism
Peter has struggled with his addiction to alcohol for years on the ITV soap and has been through plenty of trials and tribulations which drove him to drink.
After using alcohol as a coping mechanism, everything came crashing down when Peter nearly killed his son Simon Barlow (Alex Bain) by setting their flat on fire.
Realising the extent of his addiction, Peter vowed to quit and started attending AA meetings to get himself back on track.
After five years of being sober, Peter relapsed in 2020 after struggling to deal with a horrifying carjacking and Carla’s breakdown.
A homeless thug approached Peter in his cab and demanded a lift but when Peter refused there was a violent showdown which left him battered and bruised as the thug stole his cab.
Barry, a passerby, rushed over and called the police but when handing Peter a hip flask full of whisky, he couldn’t resist.
Further pushing him over the edge, Peter accused Carla of having an affair with his brother Daniel Osbourne (Rob Mallard) but in reality it was his nephew Adam Barlow (Samuel Robertson).
After accusing Carla in a row at the Rovers Return, Peter taunted her by defiantly drinking from a bottle of whisky. He did so despite a recent warning that another drink could kill him.
Thankfully since then, Peter has recovered from his relapse despite Carla’s recent mental health breakdown.
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Aidan Connor’s suicide
During his time on the cobbles, Aidan Connor (Shane Ward) was caught in a complicated love triangle with Eva Price (Catherine Tyldesley) and Maria Connor (Samia Longchambon).
Aiden later went on to marry Eva and went into business with Alya Nazir (Sair Khan) running the Underworld factory.
However, unbeknownst to his family and friends Aidan was secretly battling depression and mental health issues.
During an hour-long episode on May 9 2018, the factory owner decided to end his own life, with no element of suicide shown on screen.
Instead, the reaction was reliant on his family members, with Johnny Connor (Richard Hawley) finding his son.
During the emotional episode, viewers watched as Aidan bid farewell to his ex-fiancée Eva Price.
He returned his engagement ring back to Eva, with the pair sharing a dance before confessing their love for each other.
He then went on to have a final drink with Johnny, Carla, Jenny and Maria in The Rovers Return.
The episode ended showing Aidan sobbing, the tragedy to follow all too painfully clear for viewers watching on at home.
Touching on the heartbreaking storyline, Shane told The Sun at the time: “I am honoured to have been trusted with a storyline like this, it shows the confidence that Kate and the team had in me to be able to play it.
“When you get given a storyline like this it is a decision that is not taken lightly, I have played it with as much honesty and truth as I could.”
Abi Franklin drug use
When Abi Franklin (Sally Carman) first stormed onto Weatherfiend as a recovering drug addict, she was being monitored by social services because she had two small children, twins Lexi and Charlie.
Anna Windass (Debbie Rush) was the first character to meet Abi and was appalled by the conditions she and her children lived in.
She was soon horrified further when Abi was drinking vodka instead of taking care of her kids, before later being found unconscious by her eldest son Seb Franklin (Harry Visioni) and Faye Windass (Ellie Leech).
It was revealed that Abi had taken a drug overdose and subsequently went into rehab and lost custody of her twins.
She soon returned from her stay in rehab in 2018 and had a few close calls, especially when it came to her children preferring their foster parents, and knowing they were better off without her.
However, it hasn’t been plain sailing for Abi as after the death of her son Seb, her world began to crash around her and secretly turned back to drugs for help.
What topped it off was her one-night-stand with Imran Habeeb (Charlie De Melo) and the breakdown of her relationship with Kevin Webster (Michael Le Vell).
After sneaking around and meeting with her drug dealer, Abi soon found herself in a bad way before she was giving birth to her son Alfie, a pregnancy she did not know was happening.
Abi gave birth to her son and told Imran he was the father, leaving his wife Toyah Battersby (Georgia Taylor) stunned at the revelation.
However, due to the tests which were done at the hospital because of the state she was in, Alfie was subsequently taken away from her.
Not facing the horror of losing another baby, Abi was determined to prove her stability for baby Alfie.
Thankfully, Abi got herself back on track, mended her relationship with Kevin and got full custody of her son.
Coronation Street airs Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8pm on ITV.
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