Natalie Amber’s Triumph Over Adversity: How Her Disability Has Shaped Her Into a Stronger Person

Since Natalie Amber portrayed a character with Motor Neurone Disease in Coronation Street, she has been tirelessly supporting Rob Burrow’s charity.

Although she doesn’t have MND herself, Natalie, who uses a wheelchair, campaigns out of the kindness of her heart. Natalie, who spent two months playing Shelly Rossington – a friend of Paul Foreman, a character with MND in Corrie, said: “My disability has changed me for the better. I have a greater passion to help and create change for people, and after playing Shelly, I wanted to do even more. My disability has given me much more empathy.”

When Natalie was 35, she fell on stage while performing A Midsummer Night’s Dream. A slipped disc penetrated her spinal cord, and she spent three years in the hospital. She returned to work as a disabled actress in 2017 and has since appeared in Silent Witness, Life, ITV drama Paranoid, and Netflix hit Fool Me Once.

It was not only much harder to get auditions after the accident, but even when she landed roles, she sometimes faced prejudice on set. “The attitude was horrendous and the way they treated me was quite belittling,” she recalls. “At auditions, I was bluntly told: ‘No, your character wouldn’t be in a chair.’”

“I conducted an experiment. When I mentioned I was in a wheelchair, I hardly got any auditions, but when I didn’t bring it up, opportunities started coming through again. If I called ahead to ask if the audition was accessible, there would be a deadly silence, or I’d get silly comments like: ‘Are you sure you’re not going to get too tired to come to the audition?’”

Natalie’s experience on Corrie and the other shows mentioned were among the positive ones. Before her character’s death, she had emotional scenes with Peter Ash, who plays Paul, and Daniel Brocklebank, who plays Paul’s partner Billy Mayhew. They went “above and beyond” to help her. However, not everyone she encounters on set has an open mind.

“People can be unpleasant, patronizing, and impatient,” she says. “Once, I had an issue with a director. The character was in an electric wheelchair and mine wasn’t. The producer said they’d get one for me, but the director said: ‘We don’t have time, just use yours.’ He then spoke to my personal assistant instead of me. Later, he said: ‘You’re holding up production, you just need to hurry up.’ But at no point did anyone ask if we needed help.”

Other times, strangers ask random questions. “Once, I was on a train and a guy asked: ‘Can you have sex?’ I replied: ‘Why, can you not?’”

Natalie’s health problems began after joining an American theater company in 2010. However, her death-defying circus skills took a toll, and she suffered four separate falls. She continued working until the pain became so severe that she could barely walk. The last fall while performing in a Shakespeare play caused significant damage.

“It then came to light that I had degenerative discs,” she says. “I had to undergo a range of spinal operations over four years to try to repair the ruptured disc and replace two discs with prosthetic ones. The last operation in 2014 was not straightforward, and I spent three years in the hospital.”

Today, Natalie has no function in her left leg, and the pain in her spine is so severe that she cannot put pressure on her right leg. She also has neuropathic bowel and bladder problems and occasionally uses a feeding tube. Natalie, 45, currently lives with her mother in Bolton, Greater Manchester, but is waiting to move to her own specially-adapted flat.

She is determined to keep going – alongside her acting, she works as the access lead for the BAFTA award-winning TripleC organization, which strives to create more opportunities for disabled, deaf, and neurodivergent performers. She also recently organized and participated in Roll and Raise for MND, an event to raise money for the MND Association, My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, and the Rob Burrow Centre.