Jane Danson says her hard-hitting 'Coronation Street' plot has been "quite cathartic" for some viewers.
Jane Danson
The 'Corrie' actress' character Leanne Battersby will be left "absolutely devastated" next week when three-year-old Oliver Battersby loses his fight with mitochondrial disease, but Jane has been contacted by some viewers who are glad their "voices are being heard" via the storyline.
She said: "I’ve had so many messages from families going through something similar.
"A lady stopped me on the street and we had a chat about her son, she said how Leanne reacted was exactly how she reacted.
"The anger, the fear, the denial, the despair. She said it really brought it home but strangely really helped seeing someone else go through the same emotions.
"From the messages I’ve had it seems to be quite cathartic for some people, maybe because their story and their voices are being heard.
"More people than you realise are or have been through similar situations and if it provokes conversations and helps some people then it can’t be a bad thing."
Jane admitted it has been "tough" to spend 12-hour days on a hospital set shooting the heart-breaking storyline, but she was determined to tell the story "as truthfully" as possible.
She said: "Being in a hospital set for 12 hours a day talking about a dying child is tough but this happens to real families and we owe it to them to tell it as truthfully as we can.
"The scripts have been amazing, and it’s not been hard to feel the sadness but at the same time over the years I’ve learnt to switch off for my family.
"You have to be able to box it and have family time; meals, homework, dropping the kids off."
And the 42-year-old actress admitted Leanne - who has been fighting to keep Oliver's life support machine on, even taking the hospital to court - will be trapped in a "vicious circle of guilt, anger, sadness and despair" at losing Oliver.
She added: "It’s her worst nightmare, all this fight now for nothing, she’s done everything and it hasn’t changed anything.
"She’s devastated by the loss of what could have been, everyone else’s life is going on, Nick now has a son and Oliver will never even get to Sam’s age.
"She’s trapped in a vicious circle of guilt, anger, sadness and despair.
"It’s devastating, for everything Leanne is she has got a heart and it’s going to be completely broken. The journey to say goodbye is absolutely devastating."
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