WHEN Coronation Street’s Paul Foreman dies in a moving episode tonight there’s one man who won’t
be tuning in.
Sam Hayden-Harler helped soap bosses and actor Peter Ash shape the traumatic storyline which will see
Paul take his last breaths after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) 17 months ago.
Sign up for the Health newsletter
Sam, 35, knows he will suffer the same fate as Paul after being diagnosed with MND two years ago.
It began with a pain in his wrist and he now needs to use a wheelchair outdoors and struggles to feed himself.
As part of his work to raise the profile of the condition with the Motor Neurone Disease Association, Sam talked with writers and watched Peter Ash film emotional scenes after his character was diagnosed.
Instead of watching tonight’s live episode with family, Sam, 35, is steeling himself to watch it alone later this week.
Read more on MND
He said: “I won’t be able to watch it tonight because I want to watch it alone so I can have a good cry.
“The storyline has lasted more than a year and it’s sad to see it come to an end with Paul’s death but that’s the lived reality for many MND sufferers. There are no survivors.”
Sam met with Corrie writers when they first began crafting Paul’s tragic story and he last year went to the soap’s Manchester set to give Peter advice on the role.
Sam, of Sittingbourne, Kent, said: “Peter asked me what it was he’d like to see in the role and I just said ‘please make it as honest a portrayal as you can.
“I wanted him to shy away from any glitz or glam and stick to a gritty storyline and the real-life struggles that come with the condition.
“Peter and I were talking about the physicality of playing a role like that when he’s able-bodied.
Heartbreak and Exit on Coronation Street – Paul Foreman’s Desperate Moments
“People with MND usually have what’s called flail arms when your arms just kind of swing by your side and your fingers kind of curl up.
“I’ve watched Peter’s scenes and he was curling up his fingers and his hands, and [his] arms are kind of solitary so he’s done an amazing job.
“There was an episode that concentrated solely on Paul’s inner thoughts when he could no longer talk and I really appreciated it because it shows that, as much as someone’s external appearance can change, we are still the same person.
“In a way that’s what’s so cruel about motor neurone disease. Since I’ve been diagnosed there have been dramas, laughter, tears, and anger and I think the soap has shown that very well.
“It’s not just the disease itself you struggle with, it’s getting help and getting your home adapted too.
“For instance, I’ve been waiting seven months for the local council to have a wet room done and I’m on the urgent list.
“It was really good that one episode showed how Paul had to have his doors widened to get his wheelchair through.
“Things like that are all part of the daily struggle.”
Fans will tonight watch Paul slowly slip away as his vicar partner Billy Mayhew faces a race against time to be by his side after going out the night before.
Actor Daniel Brocklebank, who plays Billy, lost his grandfather to MND twenty years ago and is a long-time ambassador for the MND Association.
Daniel, 44, recently said of his grandad: “I remember asking him once ‘Does it hurt?’ and he tapped his heart and said ‘Only in here’.
“Towards the end, he couldn’t swallow and he couldn’t drink. I remember him choking once as he tried to drink; it was awful. He couldn’t clear his throat and it was absolutely horrible to watch.”
FUNERAL PLANNING
Despite his condition, Sam is determined to stay upbeat about life.
He is working his way through a bucket list which includes enjoying the simple things in life including making fresh lemonade, setting up a book club and taking his husband James and their seven-year-old son on holiday.
Sam said: “There are silly things on it, like trying a battered Mars bar or adopting an animal and writing to friends I’ve not seen for a long time.
“I want to enjoy the life that I have left. People are sometimes genuinely thrown when they see me laughing and joking asking ‘How can you be so happy when you’ve got MND’, but I don’t want to be a miserable sod.”
Sadly, he has also planned his funeral and faced the heartbreak of telling his son.
He said: “He knows Daddy’s not very well and he’s seen me fall a few times.
“He keeps saying ‘when your arms get better’ and I have to tell him they won’t.
“When he cuddles me he always asks if it hurts and I’m like ‘no, no it’s fine’.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
“He helps put my socks and shoes on too. We’ve not told him I will die but kids aren’t silly and he’s absorbing more and more every day.
“We’ve been sitting and watching the Paralympics because we want him to know that disability doesn’t stop you from living a life.”
Motor neutron diseases: Everything you need to know
MOTOR neurone disease MOTOR neurone disease (MND) is a rare condition that affects the brain and nerves, according to the NHS.
It causes weakness that gets worse over time, and there is currently no cure for MND.
Data from Brain Tumour Research states that up to 5,000 adults in the UK are affected by the condition, with one in 300 at risk during their lifetimes.
It slowly robs patients of the ability to walk, talk and eat, although every sufferer is different.
Celebrities who have been diagnosed with the condition include English rugby league player Rob Burrow and the former Bradford City footballer Stephen Darby, both of whom had to retire from their sporting careers early.
Many people associate motor neurone disease (MND) with the scientist Stephen Hawking, who lived with the condition for more than 50 years.
There are many forms of MND, which is an umbrella term. Some have a life expectancy of just a few months, while other forms of the disease don’t affect lifespan.
It is usually diagnosed in people over the age of 50, and men are at more risk than women. But many people outside of this are affected.
