Spare a thought for Corrie legend Liz Dawn. The veteran actress, who plays Vera Duckworth, has been diagnosed with chronic emphysema. The incurable lung disease has left the 65-year-old star so breathless that at times she has had to be given oxygen on the soap's Manchester set.
Liz - who smoked 30 cigarettes a day for more than 40 years until a cancer scare - has been fighting the disease for 18 months. A friend told the Sunday Mirror: "Liz has been at a really low ebb. It has been hard going and at times she has feared the worst. But recently she has found a specialist who has sorted out her medication. That has made her far happier. She knows that emphysema can kill and that it is a daily battle she has to confront."
