Peter Ash is currently in the middle of his final Coronation Street storyline, which will eventually conclude in Paul Foreman dying after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
Making his arrival in 2018, Paul was initially introduced as the cellmate of David (Jack P Shepherd), who was behind bars after missing court, something he had to attend after attacking Gary (Mikey North).
Paul then headed to Weatherfield after his release and eventually, settled into a life with Gemma (Dolly-Rose Campbell) and Bernie (Jane Hazlegrove) also living on the cobbles with him.
In recent weeks, Paul has attended the doctors’ multiple times after sustaining a hand injury that took a long time to heal.
It became apparent that Paul’s lack of mobility in his hand was a symptom of motor neurone disease and now, he’s facing the terrifying prospect that the illness will end up taking his life.
‘People have been lovely saying they don’t want me to go and stuff like that. I really appreciate that, Corrie fans are amazing it’s great’, Peter Ash explained recently, reflecting on the fan reaction to the storyline so far.
He added: ‘Everyone’s been amazing, it’s been quite overwhelming. To get messages from people who have lost loved ones and who are currently living with loved ones who have MND it really is something. I appreciate all the kind responses we’ve had so far.’
As Paul’s health deteriorates, his symptoms will gradually start to increase, which means Peter will have to alter the way he films as his character.
‘In scenes I have to be consciously aware I’m not using my hand in certain situations so as you’ve probably noticed I have it in my pocket a lot, A) so I’m not tempted to use it on set but B) because Paul is trying to hide it so it’s the best place to put it in his pocket’, he told us.
‘Now that he has the foot drop symptom that’s hard to hide so that’s why he’s not wanting to go to the wedding. It’s another layer of things to think about the technical side rather than the emotional side of the acting.’
To help portray the storyline, Peter and some of his co-stars recently met former rugby league star Rob Burrow, who was given his MND diagnosis in 2019.
On the same day, Peter and Daniel also filmed scenes that saw Paul tell Billy about his deteriorating health.
‘It was quite emotional to film those scenes, especially as we had just met Rob Burrow that afternoon during lunch break’, Peter added.
‘Jane, 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.’
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