Viewers know that Coronation Street isn’t afraid to cover important issues with the aim to raise awareness, and a new storyline that sees little Jack Webster contracting sepsis hopes to do just that.
Kevin Webster’s seven-year-old son is set to contract the disease through a cut on his knee, which then becomes life-threatening.
Most recently the soap has tackled taboo subjects like suicide and male rape in the hope it will get people taking about these subjects more openly.
Read more: FIRST LOOK: Next week’s Coronation Street
Jack will fall ill while being looked after by his half-sister Sophie Webster, who takes him to the doctors where they’re told he has a virus.
But when his condition then gets worse, the family take him to A&E where he is again sent home.
It has then been reported in The Mirror that trainee doctor Ali Neeson sees Jack and calls an ambulance as he is concerned about sepsis.
It then turns out Jack contracted sepsis through a cut on his knee which he got when playing football.
A spokesperson from The UK Sepsis Trust has told ED! “Jack is then rushed to hospital and sedated to support his organs. A doctor confirms he has sepsis and his father Kevin is faced with a difficult decision that no parent should have to make.”
It has been suggested in the Mirror that the decision Kevin is faced with could be the prospect of amputating his son’s leg to keep him alive.
Coronation Street has been working closely with the UK Sepsis Trust to make sure the storyline is accurate. The organisation’s chief executive Dr Ron Daniels has said: “Stories like Jack’s remind us of the devastating cost of sepsis.
“The condition affects 250,000 people every year in the UK and claims 44,000 lives – more than breast, bowel and prostate cancer, and road accidents combined.
“It’s incredible Coronation Street is raising the profile of a condition which affects so many people yet until now has been poorly recognised.”
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Jack recently had his biggest Corrie storyline to date when he played a part in Pat Phelan’s return.
The schoolboy was bribed by the serial killer to release him from the chair that Gary Windass was holding him hostage, leading to him eventually escaping and wreaking havoc on the cobbles before he died.
Coronation Street has confirmed that Jack’s storyline will be on screen later this year.
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7.30pm and 8.30pm on ITV.
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