Chris Fountain has confessed that he is scared he could suffer another stroke as he marks one year since he was rushed to hospital with a life-threatening blood clot after suffering a seizure at home.
The former Hollyoaks and Coronation Street actor, 35, took to social media to observe the poignant date by sharing a throwback picture of him in a hospital bed.
In addition to his health concerns, he also urged his 142k followers to “live life to the full” in the thought-provoking caption.
“One year ago today. Life can change in an instant, I’ve had to make a lot of changes but things have gotten so much better,” he wrote alongside the image.
“Be as positive as you can be, live life to the full and do not give up, no matter how hard things get,” he continued.
“It’s kind of been a weird thing to wrap my head around. Part of me is worrying, thinking: ‘Am I going to have another one today?’
Adding: “But then part of me is also super proud of how I’ve recovered. My speech is pretty much back to normal, I’ve run a marathon, I’m fit again.”
On 13 August 2022, Fountain was admitted to Hackney’s Homerton University Hospital after suffering a Transient Ischaemic Attack (TIA) which led to heart surgery.
A Transient Ischaemic Attack (TIA) or “mini-stroke” is caused by a temporary disruption in the blood supply to part of the brain and can led to problems with movement and speech.
Fountain realised something was seriously wrong after waking to discover he could no longer articulate his speech, prompting the terrified star to dial 111 from his London home and request an ambulance.
At the hospital, it was confirmed that he had siffered a blood clot resulting in the mini-stroke and leaving him speaking “like a toddler”.
Doctors later discovered the clot was triggered by a small, previously undetected hole in his heart allowing blood to flow into his brain.
Since then, the one-time Strictly star has worked hard on his recovery and kept fans updated on his journey, which included triumphantly running this year’s London Marathon.
He impressively completed the course in just under four hours and raised over £4k for the Stroke Association.
