A trip to Turkey takes a terrifying turn for Bethany Platt (Lucy Fallon) in Coronation Street as she contracts sepsis after having liposuction.
Bethany decides to visit the country after accepting a job with a cosmetic surgery company to write an advertorial on their new facility. Once she gets there, she undergoes liposuction at the clinic.
Next week in the ITV soap, Daniel (Rob Mallard) takes a phone call from a Turkish number. He then rushes to find Sarah (Tina O’Brien) and reveals that Bethany is in intensive care and they need to go to Turkey immediately.
Daniel then learns of Bethany’s operation and discovers she has contracted sepsis as a result.
After being warned that Bethany’s infection is severe, Daniel tells Sarah that due to issues with travel insurance, Bethany cannot leave the country until her medical bills are paid.
Just as Bethany wakes up, Sarah breaks the news to her daughter that she’s been fitted with a stoma bag, and will have it for the rest of her life.
With limited funds to pay off the bills, Daniel decides to create a crowdfunding page, hoping people will donate and help pay for the medical fees.
Back in the hospital, Bethany suddenly takes a turn for the worse when Sarah finds her in a terrible state and barely able to breathe.
But what will happen next?
Discussing this new storyline and what’s ahead for her character, star Lucy Fallon said: ‘The next couple of months are definitely going to be really challenging for Bethany. I think her biggest struggle will be coming to terms with the fact that this is something she’s done to herself.
‘Hopefully in time, which I know she will, she’ll start to accept what’s happened and realise that having a stoma hasn’t actually affected her life as much as she probably thought it would, but I do think it will take a couple of setbacks and bumps in the road to eventually get there.’
Giovanni Cinque, Marketing & Campaigns Manager at Colostomy UK, said: “We’re really excited that one of the UK’s most loved TV shows is going to feature a major character living with a stoma.
‘Even though public awareness has grown considerably over the last few years thanks to a number of celebrities revealing they have had surgery, the challenges that the 200,000 plus people living with a stoma in the UK face are less known, which means that we as a society and as individuals are not as aware as we should be of the choices that we can make to positively improve their quality of life.
‘We really hope that Bethany’s journey will go a long way in helping to educate the audience, and thus help to create a more Stoma Aware UK. It’s also been a pleasure for us to work with the behind-the-scenes teams at Coronation Street on this story’.
