Emmerdale's Zoe Tate Actress, Leah Bracknell, Reveals She Has Terminal Lung Cancer

Emmerdale star Leah Bracknell has revealed she has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.

Leah, 52, who played Zoe Tate on the soap for 16 years, told how she was rushed to hospital last month for an emergency operation and was later given the devastating news.

Along with partner Jez Hughes, she has set up a fundraising page so she can be treated in a specialist clinic in Germany.

Writing an emotional message on the post, the yoga teacher told how she discovered she had the heartbreaking condition.

“My abdomen suddenly ballooned and within a matter of a few days I looked heavily pregnant. I could barely walk or breathe,” she recalled.

“Then, one Saturday night at the beginning of September I ended up in A & E.

“I was subsequently given an emergency procedure to remove a large amount of fluid from around my heart.

“However, the bad news is that I have been diagnosed with lung cancer, stage 4. In their opinion, that means it’s terminal, not curable, not operable.

“A fairly brutal and bleak diagnosis but one I am determined to challenge and see from the perspective of ‘a glass half full’, going against a lifetime of pessimism, negativity and fear!”

Leah and Jez are trying to raise funds so she can be treated at the private Hallwang clinic in Germany.

The couple say the hospital’s cutting edge techniques, which are not available on the NHS, have seen previously diagnosed “incurable” cancers put into remission.

They are attempting to raise £50,000 to pay for Leah’s treatment.

Jez wrote that due to “difficult personal circumstances” Leah has been unable to act for several years, which “has seen a big drain on her resources”.

Brave Leah added: “Please imagine me writing this and speaking in quite an upbeat and cheerful voice.

"Do NOT imagine me sitting here writing through a veil of tears. I am not. Or feeling sorry for myself. I am not (yet).”

Jez wrote a heartfelt message on the fundraising page, describing how his “beautiful partner” Leah had “given so much to so many” over the years.

“As an award winning actress and the first lesbian in soap, she helped raise awareness of LGBT issues and later her sensitive portrayal of a Schizophrenic breakdown, brought a lot of attention to mental illness,” he wrote.

“To us, she is Ali, wonderful mother of two, loving partner and daughter.

“To me she has given love, patience, kindness and shone an incredible light in my world.

"We want to make sure the light she shines radiates for a long time yet, and are all determined she can beat this.

“We desperately hope that we, her friends and loved ones, can raise the funds she needs for a potentially life saving treatment. Time is of the essence.”