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Long term Coronation Street character Tyrone sustains SCI
Millions of Coronation Street viewers were left shocked recently when long term character Tyrone Dobbs was revealed to have been the victim of a hit and run accident in Weatherfield.
Following the accident the dad of two was left with life changing injuries, and over the coming days it becomes clear that the mechanic has in fact suffered a severe spinal injury and is now facing a long road to recovery.
“In devastating scenes a terrified Tyrone tells wife Fiz that he can’t feel or move his legs, and the family struggle to come to terms with what the future holds.”
Spinal Injuries Association has helped advise the production team on the portrayal of Tyrone’s storyline following his accident:
“We are grateful to ITV studios and Coronation Street for raising awareness of the trauma of spinal cord injury, the terrifying impact of sudden paralysis and the long-term management of neuropathic pain and permanent mobility issues. Spinal Injuries Association has offered clinical expertise and guidance to accurately represent, as much as feasibly possible, the experience of those who may be living through similar trauma to Tyrone. Seeing the impact on his life and those around him like Fiz will increase public understanding of the experience for the 105,000 people living with spinal cord injury across the UK, many of whom struggle to access the care and expertise they need.”
On ITV.com actor Alan Halsall spoke for the first time about the accident and how the reality of what has happened is going to have far reaching consequences for all the family.
The fact that it’s Tyrone who is hit by the car has been kept tightly under wraps. Does it feel like you’ve been keeping a big secret?
Sometimes you read bits about your storylines going forward in the papers, but obviously this one isn’t, and I think it will catch people by surprise. Obviously no one’s expecting it to be Tyrone that actually gets hit in the end, so I think it’ll be a surprise. And that’s always good to keep the audience on their toes. So it has been a bit of a secret – and I’ve been filming this for weeks and weeks now, so I look I’m looking forward to watching it.
You find out that Tyrone has been injured in an interesting way…
It’s shot in a way that we don’t know who’s hit him straight away. You don’t actually see the stunt as such, it’s just that somebody’s been hit and it cuts to Tyrone lying on the floor in a bad way with the ambulance arriving. You don’t actually see the stunt as you might see who was driving, or Tyrone might see. So it’s quite interesting that it goes from Tyrone doing his day-to-day thing and going to the shop, to the next minute he’s waking up in hospital and he doesn’t know what’s going on.
What are his first thoughts when he does wake up in hospital?
As you can probably imagine, I think Tyrone’s first thoughts are confusion. He can’t really remember what’s happened, he doesn’t know why he’s in the hospital. And then I think as he’s coming round and he’s clearly in lots of pain, he has this realisation that something isn’t quite right and he can’t feel his legs. I can imagine there’s just a hell of a lot of confusion, wondering how he’s got there, why he’s feeling like this.
What does it mean for him to have Fiz and the rest of his family by his side?
Once he starts to understand what’s going on with him and why he can’t feel his legs and what’s happened, he’s got his family around him – which would be a huge source of comfort for Tyrone, because he really is a family man. But I think overall, there’s just this fear and trepidation of what this is going to bring and how his life is going to look after this accident.
How does he come to terms with the fact that he might be laid up for months with this injury?
Initially, it’s if he is going to get up at all. There’s real fear there, and not just fear from Tyrone but fear from Fiz and the kids and his mum and gran. They don’t know if he’ll walk again or how life is going to look going forward. So a lot of fear, but trying to all stick together in those moments.
Tyrone confides in Evelyn about the strain this might have on Fiz – is he trying to mask this fear from his wife?
I think so. I think Tyrone obviously knows that a lot of the pressure will fall on Fiz – the kids, work, the house. He’s aware of that, and I don’t think he wants to add his stress onto her shoulders. Tyrone always has good intentions and maybe doesn’t go about them in the right way, and I think even in this situation – as opposed to just talking to Fiz and trying to help, he goes about things in the way that he thinks best.
Is he at all concerned about who is responsible for the hit and run, or is he more focused on his recovery?
There’s definite frustration there as to who has done this, why the police can’t come up with any answers he’s wanting to know. Once that he finds out the operation has gone well and it looks like he has a good chance of being able to recover from this, I think he’d like some form of justice for this accident and to at least find out who it was. That’s definitely the case for the whole family.
Corrie is working with the Spinal Injuries Association on this storyline, how have the charity helped you so far?
The show’s brilliant at stuff like that, obviously doing the research. The thing is with a spinal injury, though, is that they’re different for every single person. So speaking to the medical professionals who are on set, I’m wanting to know ‘how much can I turn my shoulders? How much can I turn my head?’ But everybody has a different reaction to their surgery, and therefore there is no real timeline. It means that we don’t have to be so specific, because that could also bring its challenges. But it’s being aware that there are people at home who this has happened to for real. The charity is going to arrange for us to meet someone who has been living through a similar situation so it will be invaluable to get some insight from them.
Read the full story on www.itv.com/coronationstreet
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