Coronation Street star Jamie Kenna suffered a breakdown after a panic attack whilst swimming in the middle of the ocean. The actor, who plays Fiz Stape’s rejected husband Phill Whittaker, now hopes speaking about his ordeal that triggered difficult mental health struggles, will encourage others to open up too.
A keen open water swimmer, his problems began in 2011 after he got into difficulties while in a rough sea. He swam too far out and found himself having a panic attack after he began struggling and swallowed a lot of water, the Mirror reports.
Before that, he said he thought he was 'invincible', but that the ordeal 'opened a can of worms'. He added that he became aware of his 'own mortality' which triggered anxiety and panic attacks, the first of which he suffered in 2014 while appearing in the play War Horse in London.
Jamie said: “I want to use my platform to help people. I’m a big, working-class guy who looks like he should be on a building site but I’m not afraid to turn round and say if I’m scared or worried.
“I’d swum the Channel only three months before and spent five-and-a-half hours swimming Windermere but I pushed my luck. It was December, I was out in the Channel and the sea was too big and freezing cold and I went too far out.
“I had my first panic attack but I happened to have it in the middle of the ocean. I was about 200m out and it was a very exposing moment.”
Jamie, 46, swallowed a lot of water and feared he would not make it but he eventually managed to swim back to shore. “I thought that I was invincible but when I got myself into trouble it opened a can of worms," he added.
“I suddenly became aware of my own mortality and that triggered a lot of anxiety, panic attacks and depression.”
It was three years later, after trying to hide what he was going through, that he suffered a breakdown. He has since had various therapies, and although still occasionally suffering from anxiety, says he is calmer about it now.
He recalled: “I was completely melting down and knew something was wrong. I was going to the doctor – I thought it was my heart or brain.
"Now I understand it. I’m not afraid to turn to my wife and say, ‘I’m having a bit of a moment’. As soon as you say it out loud it helps calm you down.”
Jamie also returned to swimming in the sea near the Brighton home he shares with his wife, actress Claire Marlowe, and their two children. He says: “I’m a lot more fearful now but I think that’s a good thing because I’m a lot more respectful of the ocean.”
Jamie has been on the cobbles since last summer when he made his debut as nice guy Phill, who fell for single mum Fiz.
Read more Coronation Street news and gossip here.
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