Hollyoaks star Chris Fountain suffered mini-stroke which left him 'speaking like a toddler'

Whether you are team Hollyoaks or team Corrie, you’ll certainly know who Chris Fountain is.

He played Chester’s heartthrob Justin Burton before swapping Cheshire for Corrie’s cobbles in 2010, when he took on the role of Tommy Duckworth.

The soap star has been laying low in recent years, but in a new interview, revealed that over the summer he suffered a terrifying mini-stroke.

Instagram/Fountain1987

Fountain ended up having to spend five days in hospital and was left ‘speaking like a toddler’.

The 35-year-old said he ‘feared life as he knew it was over’ when he woke up one morning in August and immediately knew something was wrong.

He told The Mirror: “I woke up one morning and knew something wasn’t right. My mum called me and I just couldn’t get my words out.

“I started walking round my house looking at things and I could think what the word was, like television or fridge, but I couldn’t say it.”

The actor added: “I called 111 on my mum’s advice and they sent an ambulance for me, it was so scary.

“I felt stupid because I knew exactly what I wanted to say to the doctors, but I couldn’t get the words out, I was speaking like a toddler, I was really embarrassed.”

After being admitted to hospital, Fountain was told he’d suffered a Transient Ischaemic Attack (TIA) - known as a mini stroke - when a blood clot lodges in the brain. 

Suzan Moore / Alamy Stock Photo

Fountain candidly confessed: “When the doctors confirmed I’d had a TIA and said the word stroke, I just couldn’t believe it, there was a moment of sheer panic just fearing what it meant for the rest of my life.

“Would I have another one? Would the next one be even worse and I’d lose the use of my arms or legs? I was really scared and just broke down in tears.”

He has since been working with a speech therapist in a bid to retrain his brain.

While Fountain has regained 90% of his speech, he still struggles to read aloud and stumbles over words. 

“What’s scary is if I hadn't called 111 when I did and got to hospital so quickly I don’t know if that clot could have travelled to the wrong place in my brain, I could have died. That clot was like a ticking bomb in my head,” the Emmerdale actor said.

After running tests on the actor, doctors found a hole in his heart, which is what caused the clot to travel to his brain.

Fountain must now have the hole patched up to prevent similar incidents in the future. 

Reflecting on the health scare, he said: “I feel like it’s the wake-up call I needed to live my life to the max and just not sweat the small stuff anymore.”