Emmerdale star Michael Parr has revealed how he was rushed to hospital with the ‘worst pain ever’ after suffering hallucinations for days.
The Ross Barton actor recently returned to our screens as the Dales’ bad boy, and is embroiled in a dramatic plot that has seen him make an enemy of villainous boxing promoter Jade (Twinnie-Lee Moore).
This week, things get dangerous when Jade kidnaps April Windsor (Amelia Flanagan) and takes her to the car-park where mum Donna died.
Ross is haunted by flashbacks as Jade threatens to throw April over the edge if she doesn’t get her stolen money back.
In 2018, actor Michael took a six-year break from his Emmerdale role in order to pursue other opportunities, but was left fearing for his future acting career after injuring himself at the gym in 2022.
The actor revealed how he had crushed a nerve and injured a disk in his lower back while working out, before being rushed to hospital and diagnosed with Legionnaires disease, which can be fatal in one in ten cases.
‘It was terrifying; it was by far the worst pain I’ve felt in my entire life. The injury froze me and I couldn’t move,’ he told The Mirror.
‘I was permanently in bed and bent over. It even impacted my breathing. My immediate thought was that I was going to be like that for the rest of my life.
‘The panic really set in that I’d done myself some permanent damage.’
He went onto explain how he was unable to walk for a week, and worried how his career would be affected.
‘If you can’t move you can’t act,’ he pointed out. ‘To go from that to where I am now seems like a miracle.’
The incident occurred while the actor was working on a film in India, alongside some big names in the Bollywood scene.
‘I dropped about 20lb in four days and my cheekbones were starting to protrude,’ he revealed to the publication.
‘I’d been in my room hallucinating for four days. I didn’t know what was going on. I was delirious. I’m a massive chess player and I was so out of it I kept thinking I was a chess piece.’
He added that a colleague eventually found him and he was rushed to hospital – an experience he described as ‘scary’. He explained that being in a foreign country and unable to communicate with the doctors was difficult.
He went on to explain that he is very careful now, after undergoing a lot of treatment.
‘Following the injury, I went to see orthopaedic doctors and physios. I went for acupuncture and cupping and I began walking again. I tried absolutely everything. I wanted to get back on my feet as soon as possible.
‘I’d be lying if I said I didn’t still get nervous if I feel a little pain in my back, but as I approach 40, I no longer put my body through the punishment that I used to. You only get one body so you’d better look after it.
‘I used to train really hard at the gym, but I tailor my workouts now. I’ve quit lifting heavy weights and I now do a lot of yoga and stretching.’
