HEARTBREAKING: Lisa George breaks silence on cancer diagnosis

Former Coronation Street star Lisa George has opened up about her health diagnosis left her ‘frightened’ and how it has changed her day-to-day life.

The actress was seen, after 13 years on the famous street, saying her goodbyes at the end of August as Beth Tinker left Weatherfield. She’s now preparing to return to the stage as she plays Fairy Godmother in Cinderella at the Wyvern Theatre & Swindon Arts Centre this Christmas.

But Lisa has told how she was left fearful of a return to the theatre world after being diagnosis with NAION – non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy – which is a condition that can lead to sudden vision loss when there is reduced blood flow to the optic nerve. She is partially blind in one eye and has peripheral vision in the other.

Speaking on Morning Live on Wednesday (November 6), the former soap star said: “I’d been to the theatre to see a Shakespeare production and at the end of one of the scenes, there was a blackout – it really was dark. The actors left the set and I thought, oh my gosh, I’m not going to be able to do that. I wouldn’t be able to see or get off the stage.

“I remember going home that night and it just had a massive impact on me. I remember thinking I wouldn’t be able to do theatre again. I had this panic – I’ve got to get out there. I had spoken to my producer about my fear but in my head, I knew I wasn’t going to do it.”

However, Lisa has taken the plunge to head back to the stage and is now adamant she won’t let her diagnosis ruin her life. She said: “It put the fear in me. I was really frightened because you just don’t know what the future is. I just get on with it because what other choices do I have? I just have to look at it a different way.”

Lisa spoke to Helen Skelton and Gethin Jones on Morning Live (Image: BBC)

She also explained to hosts Helen Skelton and Gethin Jones what has been adapted for her in her every day life, inlcuding things on her computer appearing in larger font whilst anything in print also needs to be made bigger for her.

Lisa also revealed that she can often drop cups, thinking she’s putting them on the table, that she can trip over easily and regularly bashes into furniture, even in the familiarty of her own home.

Lisa also recently opened up about the distressing period when her eyesight started to fail. She told the Echo: “When my first eye went, I was really depressed, I had my license taken off me,” she said. “And, I was really depressed thinking, ‘Oh my god I’m not going to be able to drive’.”

After dealing with the initial shock and an eye patch that followed three months later, the pain didn’t ease. “My right eye was my worst, where I’ve got more vision damage,” she explained. “I was really like, ‘Oh my god what’s going to happen?’ but they were like, ‘You can drive with one good eye you’ll be fine’.”