Jane Danson was close to tears while discussing her heartbreaking new 'Coronation Street' storyline.
Jane Danson
The actress' alter-ego Leanne Tilsley will be left devastated when her son Oliver is diagnosed with Mitochondrial disease, which affects the heart, brain, muscles and lungs and can lead to seizures, atypical cerebral palsy, autistic features, developmental problems, fainting and temperature instability.
Jane, 41, revealed she and Simon Gregson, who plays Oliver's father Steve McDonald, did a lot of research for the role and spoke to Liz Curtis, from The Lily Foundation, who lost her own daughter Lily to the disease.
Speaking on 'This Morning', she said: "This is an illness which is life-limiting. We spoke with a lady called Liz from the Lily Foundation. She was really helpful in explaining what life was like for her.
"My concern with her was portraying the truth. Given that 'Coronation Street' has millions of viewers it's a great platform for those charities.
"It's really really upsetting and it's not hard to really see that. Hopefully we can help those families and those charities.
"There's not a lot of hope. There's not a lot of research and we don't know enough about it. It's life-limiting and it's devastating for people."
Jane also revealed that the devastating diagnosis will bring her Leanne and Steve closer together.
She explained: "Ultimately it kind of brings them closer. Eventually, they do get a diagnosis which is quite devastating."
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