Millions of viewers were shocked last night (Monday) when Tyrone Dobbs was dramatically revealed to have been the victim of a hit and run accident.
The dad of two was left with life changing injuries when he was hit by a car which swerved to avoid teenager Betsy Swain outside Weatherfield precinct.
As Tyrone’s family raced to the hospital doctors fought to save his life and, in the coming days, it will become evident that the mechanic has suffered a severe spinal injury and is facing a long road to recovery.
In devastating scenes next week a terrified Tyrone will tell wife Fiz that he can’t feel or move his legs.
And whilst the family struggle to come to terms with what the future holds, police turn their attention to finding the driver of the car that inflicted the horrific injury.
The charity, Spinal Injuries Association have 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.”
Here Alan Halsall talks 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 Tyrone was going to be hit and severely injured has been kept tightly under wraps. Does it feel like you’ve been keeping a big secret?
Sometimes people get to read about your storylines going forward in the press, but obviously this one isn’t, and I think it will have caught people by surprise. We are ten weeks on from filming it and no one knew. Obviously no one was expecting it to be Tyrone that actually got hit in the end, so I think it would have been a real shock. It’s always good to keep the audience on their toes. I look forward to watching it and seeing people’s reactions.
We found in an interesting way that Tyrone has been injured
It was shot in a way that we don’t know who’s been hit by the car or who was driving straight away. You don’t actually see the stunt as such, as you might see who was driving and who had been hit. It was a more dramatic way to have the reveal of it being Tyrone than actually seeing the moment of impact or even knowing that Tyrone was at the precinct beforehand.
What are his first thoughts when he wakes up in hospital?
As you can probably imagine, 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 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. There’s just a hell of a lot of fear, wondering how he’s got there, why he’s feeling like this. He is terrified.
Does he try to keep his fear from the family?
He waits until he is on his own with Fiz in the hospital as she doesn't want to scare the others, particularly his girls. Once he starts to understand what’s going on with him and why he can’t feel his legs and what’s happened, he needs his family around him – 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. He will want to be strong for the family but that is going to be difficult.
How does he come to terms with the fact that he might be laid up for months with this injury?
Initially, there is a concern that he might not 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. But he knows they will all try to stick together and face what the future holds.
Tyrone confides in Evelyn about the strain this might have on Fiz – is he trying to mask this fear from his wife?
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, trying to shield them from what is happening when he should be honest about how he feels.
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 and anger that the police can’t come up with any answers. 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 has the charity helped you so far?
The show’s brilliant at 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 also arranging for us to meet someone who has been living through a similar situation so it will be invaluable to get some insight from them.
Glenda Young
Bestselling novelist published by Headline
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