Coronation Street’s Sue Devaney has opened up about her upcoming storyline, including how she will approach it.
This week, Sue’s character Debbie Webster will visit a doctor to discuss worrying incidents that have occurred over the past few weeks.
Debbie is expecting to be told it’s the menopause, so she’s shocked to hear that she may have suffered a mini stroke and the doctor wants her to have some more tests for vascular dementia.
We know that Debbie will eventually be told she has young-onset dementia.
Sue Devaney has done a lot of research for the plot so far. She has spoken to her friend who works with dementia patients, and has also learnt a great deal from the charity Dementia UK.
As a result of collaborating with the charity, Sue has made a decision about the future of Debbie’s story.
‘We had our initial meeting they told me a lot about the tests you have to do and how you are diagnosed with it and where you go from there’, she said recently.
‘I have decided that I don’t want to know what is coming up for Debbie, I want to wait for the scripts because in real life you don’t know what is coming. I think it’s more interesting to play it like that.’
Reflecting on her reaction to being told about the story, Sue added: ‘Kate called me into the office and she said we’ve got this brilliant story, and we want to give Debbie dementia.
‘And obviously, down the line, you don’t survive dementia. So I knew that the story would eventually come to an end and my character would come to an end. There was a mixture of a lot of things.
More Trending
‘This was my first job when I was 16 and I left after a year and now it will be coming to an end again. But I also realised this was a really important story to tell and is a really fantastic opportunity to act.’
Statistics and facts about young-onset dementia
According to Dementia UK:
- An estimated 7.5%, 70,800 of the estimated 944,000 people living with dementia in the UK have young onset dementia.
- Someone develops dementia every three minutes in the UK.
- One in two of us will be affected by dementia in our lifetime, whether that be through caring for a loved one with the condition, developing it ourselves, or both.
- 53% of people in the UK know someone who has dementia.
Young-onset dementia support groups and help can be found on the Dementia UK website.
‘It’s really lovely that Debbie is loved’, she smiled.
‘And I didn’t realize what people thought of Debbie, they love Debbie and that’s brilliant. But Debbie’s not going anywhere yet. Debbie has been diagnosed and this is her journey. The whole of the story is to see her journey, isn’t it? To see this journey and tell it. We’re all frightened of getting older, aren’t we?
Deals of the Day
Save £300 on the 'Ferrari of lawn mowers' that gardeners are calling 'unbelievable'
Our Place launches unmissable Spring sale and it’s prime time to upgrade your kitchenware
Rest your head after the marathon with Simba’s best-selling mattress
Wuka has launched its new Perform Period Shorts just in time for the London Marathon
From work to workout – Perfect Ted's pre-mixed matcha latte cans are here to fuel your day
‘We’re all frightened of the inevitable that’s going to happen which is going to be death and nobody knows how we’re going to die. Viewers read things like, oh yeah, they’re killing Debbie off. Well, actually, it’s amazing that they’re giving Debbie this brilliant story.’
MORE: Coronation Street and film star John Saint Ryan dies suddenly aged 72
MORE: TV legend Kelvin Fletcher deeply emotional over child daughter’s big soap role
MORE: Huge news about Coronation Street legend who will be central to 65th anniversary
