Emmerdale resident Marlon Dingle faces a serious health battle this week, after he suffers a life threatening stroke.
The character unexpectedly suffers a stroke following his proposal to love of his life Rhona Goskirk, with daughter April discovering Marlon collapsed at home later that evening.
Talking to Daily Star and other press, Marlon actor Mark Charnock has discussed the impact that the stroke will have on his character, and his hope that the storyline will raise awareness of the condition amongst the wider public.
Reflecting on the moment that Marlon suffers the stroke, Mark explained that it comes as a sudden shock for both Marlon and his family, following his proposal to Rhona.
After proposing to Rhona, he rushes back home after he realises that he has forgotten the engagement ring for her – but suffers the stroke while at home.
Mark said: “He runs off to his house to get the ring and goes into the house, and is scurrying around trying to find it.
“Suddenly, out of nowhere, his world changes utterly.
“Everything seems to slow down for him. He is aware something is very wrong. Then he catches sight of himself in the mirror and his face has drooped on his right side. He collapses and is frozen. He can’t really move.”
When Rhona realises that Marlon has not returned, April offers to see where he is – but Rhona begins to panic when the young lass does not return either.
Talking about the moment that Rhona realises something is wrong, actress Zoe Henry said: “They’re having a little bit of a birthday do, which I guess is a bit of an engagement do as well.
“Marlon has gone to get the ring and April goes back to check on him. Rhona was going to go, but she [April] says, ‘Oh no, you stay here.’
“Then more time passes and Rhona thinks, ‘This is a bit weird. I’ll go back and check.’ Then she goes back and there’s an ambulance outside the house.”
Marlon is later taken to hospital where he undergoes a thrombectomy, a procedure used to remove a blood clot, which Mark added “is only the beginning of the story. It helps with his facial drooping in the first instance, but he still has a very long journey ahead of him.”
Reflecting on how the stroke affects Marlon, Mark explained that the condition affects the right side of his body, as well as his ability to communicate with others.
“His arms, legs, mouth – they’re all quite badly affected,” said Mark.
“He has aphasia, which affects his speech and being able to express himself properly. He often makes mistakes with words. He can see what he wants to say, but can’t express it. He either goes to the wrong word or just can’t say it.
“He’s in a wheelchair, because his right side is not operational. It’s a mountain for him to climb, but for Marlon, because he is such a physically expressive person, reducing him down to his eyes is how he expresses himself really in the first few days and weeks.”
Talking about how the stroke will affect the character in the months to follow, Mark said: “He’s not going to get to where he wants to be for a long time. We’re just at the beginning of his journey.
“He can’t work anymore. He feels, wrongly, that he can’t be the dad that he wants to be anymore, which is everything to him, but because of Rhona and Paddy and other characters who come into the story, there are some lovely scenes in the hospital quite early on that, hopefully, will show that it is not all gloom and depression. There is lightness to it too.”
As well as showing the affects of a stroke on his character, Mark also hopes to show viewers that people can recover from strokes and that there is hope for people who have suffered the condition, as part of the upcoming storyline.
He also hopes that the storyline might inspire people to change their lifestyles, to prevent a stroke before it could occur.
In the coming months, scenes will also explore how Marlon and his family, friends and loved ones will come to terms with the diagnosis and how it will impact their future and the wider community.
Speaking about how the stroke will impact Marlon and Rhona’s relationship, Zoe Henry said that she does not know what will happen next, but that Rhona is currently “battling it on her own. It’s new ground and every day brings a new challenge and a new hurdle.
“We shot some stuff recently while he is still in hospital. Your relationship changes gear. It has happened with lightning speed. She has gone from being a partner to a carer overnight. I think it will be an interesting journey in terms for her, to see how she manages that.
“This is potentially years of, ‘How do we manage this?'”
The story line has been produced with the support of the charity the Stroke Association, who have worked closely with Emmerdale’s scriptwriters, story, research and production teams from the conception of the storyline to give a realistic and authentic depiction of Marlon’s journey.
Talking about the help that the Stroke Association are providing regarding the storyline, Mark explained that they are helping him with every detail, so that he can portray Marlon’s story and living with a stroke, as accurate as possible to viewers.
He said: “Each stroke is profoundly different. For the story we’re telling, there will be 99 other people who say, that is not what happened to me. You can only tell the one story and hope that you represent faithfully what happens afterwards, and what people will have to go through. That is where the real responsibility lies.
“It was extraordinarily helpful [the support of The Stroke Association].
“I’m constantly asking the medical professionals, can I do this? What can I do with my good hand at this point? It’s details that are going to sell the story to people who have been through it. The research has been everything.”
Reflecting on the storyline, Juliet Bouverie OBE, Chief Executive at the Stroke Association said: “It has been a really wonderful experience working with the Emmerdale team.
“We have worked closely with the researchers and the writers to give a really accurate and realistic portrayal of what a stroke is and how it affects that person and their family emotionally.”
Speaking about the importance of communicating this storyline to viewers, she added: “I think one misconception is that people think strokes always happen to older people. As we see in this storyline, strokes happen to people of working age – in fact, 1 in 4 strokes happen to people of working age.
“I don’t think the public understand that stroke is a recovering condition. Life after stroke might be tough, it is going to require a lot of determination and hard work, but there is hope. There is life after stroke. People can recover, and hopefully this story line will give people an understanding of the scale and the impact of a stroke.
“I think it is hugely important that the storyline is accurate, realistic and that soaps like Emmerdale have a chance to increase public awareness.
“There’s a huge 1.3m stroke survivors, so the more that we can do through soaps like Emmerdale that help to raise public consciousness and awareness about stroke, hopefully that will encourage more conversations within families and more people will be aware of the FAST acronym. If people know the symptoms of stroke, they really can save a life.”
Stroke is a medical emergency. The FAST test can help you recognise the signs.
- Facial weakness: Can the person smile? Has their mouth or eye drooped?
- Arm weakness: Can the person raise both arms?
- Speech problems: Can the person speak clearly and understand what you say?
- Time to call 999: if you see any of these signs
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
