Lying in a hospital bed, the right side of her face sunken and drooping, Coronation Street viewers watch 18-year-old Betsy Swain react to the devastating news. Days after having consensual \u2018strangulation sex\u2019 with her boyfriend Dylan Wilson, she has suffered two strokes.<\/p>\n
Her shocked mum, DS Lisa Swain (Vicky Myers) is by her bedside as Betsy (Sydney Martin) is told there\u2019s been damage to an artery in her neck, caused by a temporary loss of circulation. \u2018Strangulation sex, \u2018 or \u2018breath play\u2019 \u2013 which involves applying pressure to the neck during sex to increase arousal and is highly dangerous \u2013 can damage the vertebral arteries in the neck and can lead to a blood clot travelling to the brain to cause a stroke.<\/p>\n
In Wednesday\u2019s episode, Betsy confesses her \u2018strangulation sex\u2019 session \u2013 not seen by viewers \u2013 to her mum. Sydney says: \u201cI am part of the same generation as Betsy. \u2018Strangulation sex\u2019 is something we\u2019re more aware of.\u201d Not shocked that Dylan and Betsy were experimenting, she adds: \u201cI was very shocked that a stroke can affect young people. I hope young stroke sufferers will now take comfort knowing they aren\u2019t alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
As well as the Stroke Association, Coronation Street was advised on the storyline by he Institute for Addressing Strangulation (IFAS), and Safeline, a charity for survivors of sexual abuse. Their experts reviewed scripts and were on set to help.<\/p>\n
After doctors discover damage to her arteries, Betsy manages to convey that the choking was consensual and she and Dylan both believed the pressure applied was minimal. Now she hopes the hard-hitting storyline will raise awareness of young people suffering strokes.<\/p>\n
According to the Stroke Association, who have worked closely with Corrie, 85,000 people survive a stroke each year in the UK \u2013 several hundred of whom are children. And Corrie bosses want the storyline to show how consensual \u2018strangulation sex\u2019 is more common now among younger people.<\/p>\n
A November 2025 IFAS report revealed that more than half of people aged 16-34 admitted they had either choked someone during sex, or been choked. In Corrie, Betsy\u2019s strokes have left her paralysed on her right side. Actress Sydney is wearing a special prosthetic to show how a stroke can cause a sunken, drooping face.She says: \u201cHalf her body is now paralysed. She has facial drooping on the eye and mouth and she is slurring. We had a prosthetic made in house and the makeup team have been putting it on each morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Betsy\u2019s mum, Lisa, is determined to arrest Dylan, but Betsy begs her not to. Sydney says: \u201cThis is a generational difference between them. This isn\u2019t about a villain or a victim.\u201d<\/p>\n
Betsy is also shattered \u2013 something stroke sufferers experience. To help with accuracy, the actress spoke to stroke advisors and to two young stroke sufferers. One, Louise Hindley, suffered a stroke 10 years ago, aged 20. Brought to tears by her story, Sydney says: \u201cI am a perfectionist and when it comes to a story like this, you want to get it right. I asked many questions.\u201c<\/p>\n
Sydney also spoke to Emmerdale star Mark Charnock, whose character Marlon Dingle suffered a stroke in 2022. And she practiced communicating with the three flatmates she shares with in Manchester. She says: \u201cIt\u2019s important to me to convey everything as best I can. Stroke sufferers have trouble finding the words.\u201d<\/p>\n
Viewers will see Betsy recuperate in hospital, before being sent home. She says: \u201cBetsy has to have a bedroom downstairs, uses a wheelchair\u2026 and she is so lethargic.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s another massive storyline for Sydney, who joined Corrie two years ago \u2013 leaving her full-time job in Tesco. She says: \u201cI count my blessings every day. Before I joined, I\u2019d just graduated from drama school and I was working in Tesco. To be trusted with this stroke storyline is amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since the rebellious teenager joined, Betsy has also been embroiled in several other huge plots, including the tragic death of her boyfriend, Mason, and discovering scaffolder Theo dead on the night of her mum\u2019s wedding to Carla Connor.<\/p>\n
Sydney says: \u201cWho killed Theo?That was the question I\u2019ve been asked the most. I love it at Corrie and I am learning so much. Corrie is like drama school times 100.\u201d<\/p>\n
Away from the cobbles, Sydney has a steady boyfriend, Jack, and has recently returned from a holiday with some of her cast mates, including Liam McCheyne who plays Dylan. She says: \u201cIt shows how incredibly close we are.\u201d Of the cast, she says: \u201cThey are my second family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Happy to stay at Corrie for the foreseeable future, she says of her dramatic scenes: \u201cThat\u2019s the beauty of Corrie. Yes it can be hard work filming a storyline like this, but hopefully, it will show young stroke sufferers there is someone on TV who is going through exactly what they are.\u201d<\/p>\n
*If you have been affected by Betsy\u2019s stroke storyline, help can be found at the Stroke Association<\/p>\n
\u2018I suffered a stroke at 20\u2019
\nAdult social care worker Louise Hindley was 20 when she suffered a stroke \u2013 which took four days to diagnose. Louise, now 30 and living near Wigan, began feeling unwell in June 2016. She says: \u201cI felt dizzy, sick and as if I had an extreme hangover, despite not having drunk anything. Hours later, at a friend\u2019s house, I started vomiting. The left side of my face also felt numb.\u201d<\/p>\n
Going straight to her GP, they thought it was a reaction to something. But, the next day, Louise lost all coordination. Her sister, Lisa, called an ambulance, but paramedics failed to diagnose a stroke. When she got worse, her sister called another ambulance and terrified Louise was rushed to A & E.<\/p>\n
Doctors initially thought she had an inner ear infection. Kept in hospital, three days later, unable to lift her head from the pillow or swallow a drink properly, an MRI was ordered. \u201cThat\u2019s when they told me I\u2019d had a stroke,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was a massive shock. I thought a stroke affected an older person.\u201d<\/p>\n
Further tests showed the stroke resulted from an undiagnosed hole in the heart that meant a blood clot bypassed the lungs, travelling straight to the brain to cause an ischaemic stroke. Louise says: \u201cMy mum said it made total sense why I\u2019d been sick as a child.\u201d<\/p>\n
Three weeks later, Louise came home, returning to work as a legal secretary in September 2016. A few months later she quit to become an adult social care officer, so she could help others. As well as knocking her confidence, the stroke left her feeling isolated. And she wanted to advise Corrie to reassure young stroke sufferers they aren\u2019t alone.Now fully recovered and a married mum of two, she says: \u201cI\u2019ve since had an op to close the hole in my heart and I\u2019m now very passionate about raising awareness that young people do suffer strokes too. It\u2019s great that Corrie is running this storyline. \u201c<\/p>\n
Juliet Bouverie OBE, CEO at the Stroke Association adds: \u201cWe commend Coronation Street for taking on this stroke storyline. While the cause of Betsy\u2019s stroke is rare, her experience powerfully shows that a stroke can happen at any age. If you think you or someone you know is having a stroke, you should Act FAST and call 999. Stroke is a medical emergency.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stroke warning signs<\/p>\n
F \u2013 Face drooping. Has the person\u2019s face fallen on one side or can they not smile?
\nA \u2013 Arm weakness. Can they raise both arms and keep them there? One arm may drift downward or feel numb.
\nS \u2013 Speech difficulty. Is their speech slurred, are they confused or are they unable to speak?
\nT \u2013 Time to call 999. Call emergency services if you see any of these signs, even if the symptoms disappear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lying in a hospital bed, the right side of her face sunken and drooping, Coronation Street viewers watch 18-year-old Betsy Swain react to the devastating<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13997,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-viral-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorssite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorssite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorssite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorssite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorssite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13995"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/humorssite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13995\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13998,"href":"https:\/\/humorssite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13995\/revisions\/13998"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorssite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorssite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorssite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorssite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}