Former Coronation Street star Chris Fountain has revealed he suffered a mini stroke which left him “speaking like a toddler” aged just 35.

The actor, who also appeared on Channel 4’s Hollyoaks, portrayed Tommy Duckworth in the long-running ITV soap.

Chris has spoken out about being left terrified when he woke up one morning unable to speak properly.

Breaking his silence to the Daily Mail, he said he spent five days in a London hospital after suffering a Transient Ischaemic Attack (TIA) – known as a mini stroke – due to a blood clot in his brain.

He said: "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. 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."

North Wales Pioneer: Chris Fountain suffered a Transient Ischaemic Attack in August (Ian West/PA)Chris Fountain suffered a Transient Ischaemic Attack in August (Ian West/PA) (Image: PA)

Speaking to the Mirror, he added: “The doctors said they saw some damage to the lefthand side of my brain which is where your cognitive abilities are controlled from.

“What’s scary is if I hadn’t have 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.”