Marlon Dingle Emmerdale stroke storyline: Leeds soap cast members Mark Charnock and Zoe Henry on filming challenging episodes

Soaps have a long history of featuring storylines that can boost public awareness about underrepresented conditions or important social issues, helping to dispel any misconceptions.
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Yorkshire's own Emmerdale is the latest, as it introduces a narrative in which Marlon Dingle suffers a stroke.

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The on-screen chef is a relatively young character, which reflects what the experts say about the condition: it’s not just a health risk for the old and one in four strokes happen to people of working age.

Mark Charnock as Marlon Dingle. Picture: ITVMark Charnock as Marlon Dingle. Picture: ITV
Mark Charnock as Marlon Dingle. Picture: ITV
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The episodes have been made with the support of the Stroke Association charity, which has worked closely with Leeds-based soap's scriptwriters, story, research and production teams to give a realistic depiction. Real life stroke survivor, Nick Hounsfield, also helped.

Mark Charnock, who plays Marlon, says of his character’s storyline: “It’s a mountain to climb. For Marlon, in particular, because he’s such a mouthy kind of character and he’s a physically expressive person, it’s reducing him down to his eyes, really – (that’s) how he expresses himself in the first few days and weeks.”

In coming episodes after many hurdles and both eager to propose, Rhona and Marlon put their plans in motion at the same time, but as he dashes off to find the ring, his vision becomes impaired, he falls to the ground and realises he’s suffering from a stroke. Frightened and disorientated, Marlon clings to consciousness and when she rushes to his aid, he barely recognises his daughter April, who calls an ambulance.

Afterwards, the character is badly affected down his right side, and in a wheelchair after losing the use of his arm and mouth. It means he suffers with aphasia – difficulty with language or speech – relying on very few words.

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Mark says: “He’s totally reliant on the people around him, the people who love him, he’s devastated. His life is cooking and his life, really, is all about using his hands. His dexterity is everything. And all that’s taken away, it’s like the rug has been pulled out from under every aspect of his life.”

He adds: “It feels like an absence in his own life. I think he feels like there’s a hole where he used to be and he doesn’t know how to fill that hole back up with himself.”

Nick's own story is one that should bust any myths about stroke being a condition of old age.

Healthy, active and in his late 40s, he had a stroke on February 1, 2020.

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“I was actually just playing hockey,” he recalls. “I play regular sport, I’m normally fit and healthy. It was at the start of the game, probably about four or five minutes in and suddenly I noticed that I wasn’t able to follow the hockey ball at all. Everyone was shouting at me to go and get the ball but I couldn’t see it properly. And I just felt really weird.

“Then I noticed that in my right hand I was starting to lose the grip of my hockey stick. I thought, this is really, really strange. And then all I can say is that it was almost a bit like an out of body experience; like I was about five metres behind me watching myself and...I can’t say anything more than just felt really strange.”

Nick went to the side of the pitch and sat “completely fear-stricken because I just didn’t know what was wrong with me”. Meanwhile, everyone else started to crowd around to ask what was happening.

“I was just getting incredibly scared because I knew exactly in my head what I wanted to say but it was just not coming out my mouth,” explains Nick. “And then suddenly I heard in the background, somebody said, ‘Oh my God, I think he’s having a stroke’. And then that was the moment where it dawned on me.”

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Nick, who is from a medical background, says that although he has had “every test under the sun” it is not known what caused his stroke.

His lifestyle choices weren’t the unhealthy sort that make 90 per cent of strokes preventable (more than half are caused by high blood pressure).

After initial complications in hospital, his recovery was a struggle too.

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He says: “There was definitely a period of time, about three or four months, where I had massive frustration in terms of being able to get (things) across, particularly when I was feeling very strongly about something or something that was very emotive, which would then start making me stumble on my words or not find my words, and then that would start precipitating this feeling of, ‘oh my God, I’m having another stroke. I’ve lost my voice again.’ And so and so this really vicious circle came about.

“However, there’s also some laughter along the way. I’ve got three young boys, my wife, and some funny friends and I was constantly getting words wrong, which brought out real humour at times. My wife was always called my husband, my sons were called my daughters, and all those kinds of things, because I just couldn’t get the right words out.”

He is full of praise for the way in which Mark has approached the challenge of portraying stroke on television.

“Hearing Mark recounting the whole storyline, actually, I felt really teary because he’s clearly got a very good grip on what it’s like and how it feels,” he says. “I know that he feels a weight of responsibility on this particular storyline and he’s completely got it. So I have complete faith in him.”

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The story is also testing for Marlon’s partner Rhona, who is shaky and emotional as she prepares him for surgery. Internally, a confused and frightened Marlon begs her to stay with him but, as he’s unable to speak, Rhona bolts from the room to disguise her distress.

She has to contend with running a business and family responsibilities as well as becoming, alongside other characters, a carer for Marlon during his recovery.

Zoe Henry, who plays the character, says: “I think she genuinely thinks and wrestles with: ‘Can I do this? Am I up to this? Do I want to do this?’ Which is quite a guilty thing for her to admit. I don’t think it’s going to be easy for her at all. And whether she manages to stick at it is anyone’s guess.”

Juliet Bouverie, chief executive of the Stroke Association, says that stroke can be “incredibly frightening” for family members too, adding: “For a lot of carers, their world shrinks, and they suddenly feel really quite isolated.”

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The accurate portrayal of the issue in soaps like Emmerdale is important, she says, because there is “fatalism around stroke” despite it being a condition from which people can recover.

But she adds: “I can’t emphasise enough that if you or anyone you know is showing the signs and symptoms of a stroke, you really must act fast. It could be a medical emergency – call 999

“Because time is brain and for every second that is lost, essential neurons are also lost and so people need to get to hospital and get that life-saving treatment within that magic four-and-a-half hour window.”

Factfile

Stroke strikes every five minutes in the UK.

It can happen to anyone, of any age, at any time. Experts say it’s vital to know the signs, which can be identified using the FAST test:

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* Facial weakness: Can the person smile? Has their mouth or eye drooped?

* Arm weakness: Can the person raise both arms?

* Speech problems: Can the person speak clearly and understand what you say?

* Time to call 999: If you see any of these signs.

Anyone affected by stroke can visit stroke.org.uk or call the dedicated Stroke Helpline on 0303 3033 100.

The Emmerdale episodes featuring the storyline of Marlon’s stroke begin next week.

This story was first published by The Yorkshire Post.