TV Actress Suffers ‘Shocking’ Stroke

EastEnders‘ Cheryl Fergison is opening up about the “shocking” stroke that left her unable to walk.

The actress, 59, told The Mirror on Saturday that she had been recovering from a stroke she suffered in May, telling the outlet, “I would say it was probably one of the lowest times in my life.”

“One of the hardest things is to process what it does to you,” she explained. “One minute you’re walking, talking, going to the shops; the next your world is rocked. It’s shocking.”

Back in May, Fergison first noticed she had “started to feel funny” with a “really bad headache at the back of my head” before attempting to go to bed. “When I got up in the night to go to the bathroom, my balance completely went, and I had to stop myself from falling over,” she recalled. “My whole right side felt numb, heavy and tingly.”

In a panic, Fergison called her son, who “recognized the symptoms” and “phoned an ambulance straight away.” After being rushed to the hospital, Fergison was told she had suffered a stroke, which left her unable to walk.

“I have had to retrain my brain. I couldn’t even pick up a penny at first,” said the actress, who now uses a walking stick to get around. “You lose the ability to coordinate your hands, to walk properly, your balance is gone. It’s frustrating and makes you angry. But I’ve started to recover; I am coming on in leaps and bounds now.”

Fergison said her stroke has caused her to reflect on the important things in life. “Material things don’t matter; they can be lost or broken, but memories are everything. Friends, family and laughter – that’s all that matters,” she said, adding that going into her 60th year was a “chance for a new me.”

She added, “I’m not ready to be put out to graze yet.”

Fergison has had her share of troubles in the past, undergoing surgery for uterine cancer in 2015, just three years after she learned she owed thousands of pounds in taxes after her accountant ran away with her money — “the moment my entire world collapsed.”

“I thought he was looking after me,” Fergison explained. “But he was lining his own pockets.” She continued, “For five years, I paid him faithfully, and he didn’t send any money to the tax office. My savings, my security, everything was gone.”

While her accountant was eventually picked up by Interpol for another scam, Fergison never recovered her losses. “Even though I was the victim, I still had to repay it. It’s taken me so many years to recover. I had to sell my house,” she said, adding, “Just because I am off the telly, doesn’t mean that I haven’t gone through some very hard times. I don’t let it get me down though.”