Blackwood family's 'painful' MND experience as Corrie reaches climax

Rosie Hollings, now 31, cared for her mother Alyson for nine years after she was diagnosed with motor neurone disease aged just 43. 

As Coronation Street reaches the climax of its current storyline that sees resident Paul Foreman pass away from the same disease, Rosie has bravely opened up on her experiences of caring for someone with MND and her grieving process. 

Rosie's mother Alyson was diagnosed with MND aged just 43 (Image: Supplied) Rosie's mother Alyson was diagnosed with the disease in 2014, and she became her primary carer, saying that she "didn’t see it as a sacrifice, it was a blessing", as her mum was her "best friend". 

They watched the ongoing MND storyline on Coronation Street together, and Rosie says that seeing issues that her mother experienced, including being turned away on a night out because someone thought she was drunk, being covered on mainstream television, were "really hard to watch". 

Rosie said watching Coronation Street's storyline with the Foreman family was "really hard to watch" (Image: ITV) She explained: "She'd actually barely drunk anything because she was so scared of being drunk knowing that there was a problem and she had a fear of falling, so she was really careful.

"That was the last time that me and my mam ever went out because she was mortified at being refused entry.

"We watched the Coronation Street storyline together and I thought it was really good what they did with Paul when they said he was drunk because it's so true, people make judgemental assumptions and its literally what happened to my mam."

For Rosie and her mother, they lived on television and movies, such as Strictly Come Dancing, with the Christmas specials being a "highlight of our year". 

Given how much soaps have meant to Rosie and her mother, since losing her,  Rosie has found that she can't watch them anymore as "it's just too painful". 

Rosie says watching soaps on her own is now too painful after losing her mum (Image: Supplied) Rosie has admitted how she was "struggling to get by day to day" while caring for her mother, due to the pressures of caring, noting how it was "heartbreaking" to see her mother deteriorate so quickly and know there was nothing she could do. 

She added: "I was the only person who could understand her, so her parents and and my brother lost the ability to communicate with her within the first two years.

"The fact her parents and her son couldn't communicate with her is something I hadn't reflected on at the time. I think I took for granted the fact I still could. 

"In the last six months, that was even too exhausting for mam. Unless it was a necessity, she wouldn't communicate. It was so frustrating and really upsetting for her, but it was just too much."

Rosie says she felt "helpless" and often felt "completely on your own" as her mum began to deteriorate. 

She explained: "There was nothing I could do but I think I was in denial for a lot of it. I almost had to block out my entire life previous to MND, including how mam used to be, it’s sort of a defence mechanism."

Rosie is channelling her grief into fundraising for the Motor Neurone Disease Association, including running, which she enjoyed with her mother (Image: Supplied) Since losing her mum, Rosie has felt like she is "grieving two people". 

She said: "I'm grieving mam with MND and I'm grieving for mam before MND which makes the grieving process even more complicated because you realise exactly what has been ripped away from you.

"Nine years at home with mam, to all of a sudden, going back to work. There's no time to heal and to get yourself together.

"When in an instant you’re no longer a carer, you almost have to work out who you are again because you lose your identity.

"I think the adjustment to normal life when you’ve cared for somebody for so long is a really difficult thing to go through."

Rosie is currently navigating her way through her grief, and believes that her experience cannot be "truly understood" by others who are not living in the same situation. 

Coronation Street's MND storyline with Paul Foreman is due to climax next week with the episode on Wednesday, October 2, containing his funeral.