CORONATION Street star Sue Cleaver has opened up about the terrifying moment she nearly died of sepsis after falling ill on the soap’s set.
The 56-year-old, known for playing Eileen Grimshaw, opened up about her brush with the disease to Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford on This Morning today.

Sitting alongside Dr Ranj Singh, she explained: “I suffer like many people with IBS and I thought I was having a flare-up while I was working.
“I went in on the Tuesday and late in the afternoon I said: ‘Do you need me in this scene because I’m really not feeling great? I need to go home and sleep.
“My side was sore. Then I came in the next morning at half seven. It was the hottest day of the year but I was on set with a hot water bottle.
“Melanie Hill turned to me and said: ‘You at your feet.’ They were blue and purple. I was freezing cold.”
The Eileen Grimshaw star fell ill on the set of Coronation Street[/caption]
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She added: “I went home after lunch and got into bed and tried to go to sleep. My husband [James Quinn], who also works on Corrie, was on a night shoot and tried to ring me.
“He said: ‘Something’s not right. I can’t hear what she’s saying because your teeth are chattering too much.
“He came back and I was just shaking. He rang out daughter, who’s a paramedic who said: ‘Get her to hospital.’ My temperature was 39.9. I didn’t know I had sepsis till the next day.
“Immediately I was on fluids and antibiotics. There was an hour window of opportunity.”
Symptoms of sepsis
Symptoms of Sepsis in adults and older children includes:
- Acting confused, slurred speech or not making sense
- Blue, pale or blotchy skin, lips or tongue
- A rash that does not fade when you roll a glass over it, the same as meningitis
- Difficulty breathing, breathlessness or breathing very fast
Anyone with any of these symptoms of sepsis should call 999 or go to an A&E department, the NHS advises.
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