Emmerdale’s Marlon Dingle will face a serious health battle when he has a stroke in heartbreaking episodes airing next week on ITV.
In the hope of raising awareness of the warning signs that come before a stroke, the programme’s narrative will focus upon Marlon and tell the story from his character’s perspective.
The episodes have been produced with the support of the charity, the Stroke Association, who have worked closely with Emmerdale’s scriptwriters, story, research and production teams to give a realistic and authentic depiction of Marlon’s journey.
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In the coming months, scenes will 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.
Emmerdale Producer, Laura Shaw, said: “Warm, witty and kind-hearted Marlon is undoubtedly one of Emmerdale's most loved characters and with Mark Charnock's sheer skill, craft and incredible range, it felt totally right to play such an incredibly important story as this, with Marlon highlighting that a stroke can happen at any time and showing the catastrophic consequences it can have on the person affected and their whole family.”
Juliet Bouverie OBE, Chief Executive at the Stroke Association said: “Many viewers will be able to identify with Marlon’s storyline, including the 1.3 million stroke survivors living in the UK.
"A stroke can leave people facing the rest of their lives with a disability, and the emotional strain caused by the condition can be devastating on the stroke survivor and their family.”
Mark Charnock added: “Working with Emmerdale‘s research team and the Stroke Association on this storyline has been a total eye-opener for me.
"We hear the word 'stroke' bandied around a great deal, but being confronted with the sheer weight of numbers in this country alone has been a shock. A stroke occurs every 5 minutes in the UK. Over 100,000 a year.
"More can and should be done to raise awareness and hopefully, this story can help with that. It’s an enormous responsibility to try and get it right for the survivors and their families and for those who’ve lost loved ones to this awful event.
"No two strokes are the same, but the after-effects are devastating. I’m very proud of the show for telling it and for letting me be a part of it.”
Emmerdale airs weekdays at 7.30pm on ITV and the ITV Hub
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