What happened to Betsy in Coronation Street and what comes next?
Betsy Swain (Sydney Martin) has returned home from hospital after suffering multiple strokes in Coronation Street.
The young woman’s whole entire life has changed in the space of a very short period of time.
Even though this storyline has only been airing for a few weeks, it’s become a massive talking point among the Corrie audience.
Plenty have been commenting on how powerful it is, while others have praised Coronation Street for airing a storyline about a subject that isn’t discussed enough.
Here is everything you need to know about what Betsy has been through.
What happened to Betsy in Coronation Street?
After Ryan Connor (Ryan Prescott) found Betsy on the floor in the kitchen, she was rushed to hospital.
In the hospital, Lisa Connor-Swain (Vicky Myers) and Carla (Alison King) discovered that Betsy had experienced a stroke.
The youngster then suffered another one. After some tests, Lisa and Carla learnt that Betsy’s ordeal was caused by a blood clot which was the result of neck artery damage from a temporary loss of circulation.
Betsy then revealed that Dylan Wilson (Liam McCheyne) strangled her during consensual sex, with both believing the pressure applied was minimal.
As well as focusing on Betsy, the storyline has also shined a light on how Dylan has been coping in the aftermath.
The young man spent time in denial, believing that he didn’t put Betsy in hospital due to the time between them having sex and her first stroke.
However, after seeing Betsy in hospital, and having a conversation with Ryan, Dylan eventually came to accept that he was responsible.
Betsy has now returned home from hospital, which means the show can explore how she deals with the residents of Weatherfield reacting to what she’s gone through.
Her rehabilitation will see Betsy undergo treatment and activities to help with her recovery. Before she was discharged from her hospital, Betsy took part in some speech exercises with Roy Cropper (David Neilson), who held up picture cards and asked Betsy to name what she could see.
Her recovery could also feature physiotherapy, occupational therapy, dietary support, speech and language therapy or psychological therapy.
What has Sydney Martin said about this storyline?
Sydney, who is 24, spoke exclusively to Metro about this storyline as it began.
She said: ‘I always knew it was going to be very divided, very contrasting. It seems to have been quite well-received, but also, I know that, for the older generations, it wasn’t going to be as palatable. But I think that’s exactly what we wanted.
‘You just have to take one look at the reaction to understand why these topics stay taboo. I think, negative or positive, people are talking about it, and that’s exactly the reaction we wanted from it.’
It’s a huge story for a young actress of 24, playing younger, to take on – groundbreaking, topical and important to get right.
Sydney added: ‘It’s hard for soap. It’s powering against all the streaming platforms but remains as strong as ever, so to be given something that is so unique and such a fresh perspective and, in a lot of lights, taboo, I felt excited for that to go out there.
‘Whether young people watch it, or parents of young people who watch it and then strike up these conversations, it can really make a difference.’
