Leanne’s worst nightmare:

Coronation Street’s Leanne Battersby (Jane Danson, left) is overwhelmed by guilt, anger, sadness and despair as she faces a mother’s toughest decision over her terminally ill son Oliver. James Rampton reports.

Heartache on Coronation Street.

Get the handkerchiefs ready. The already highly affecting Coronation Street story about Oliver, the young son of Leanne Battersby (Jane Danson) and Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson, above), and the little boy’s battle with a terminal illness is about to reach an even more emotional point.

Despite doctors telling Leanne that Oliver’s cause is hopeless, she refuses to give up the fight for her son’s life. Her tireless struggle has really struck a chord with audiences.

Danson outlines the response she has had to the story.

“I’ve had so many messages from families going through something similar,” she says.

“A lady stopped me on the street and we had a chat about her son. She said how Leanne reacted was exactly how she reacted. The anger, the fear, the denial, the despair.

“She said it really brought it home, but strangely it also really helped seeing someone else go through the same emotions.

“From the messages I’ve had, it seems to be quite cathartic for some people, maybe because their story and their voices are being heard. More people than you realise are or have been through similar situations, and if it provokes conversations and helps some people, then it can’t be a bad thing.”

Leanne and Steve have been mounting legal action to try to force the hospital to continue treating Oliver, who has mitochondrial disease. But Steve has now told Leanne that he is giving up on the legal challenge.

To make matters worse, her partner, Nick Tilsley (Ben Price), is urging Leanne to switch off Oliver’s life-support machine.

The actress, who has played Leanne since 1997, explains how her character reacts to Steve’s announcement.

“She’s devastated. Steve has been the one constant in backing her all the way. He’s always suppressed his doubts for her, so once he changes his mind, she really does feel like she’s on her own.

“She feels abandoned and emotionally battered, but she’s not giving up any time soon.”

The 41-year-old actress continues that Leanne cannot allow herself to think that Steve may be right.

“Everything Steve says, she has a counter argument for, but she’s clutching at straws. I think maybe deep down she does know what the outcome is going to be, but wherever there’s life, there’s hope, and she’s clinging on to that.

“It’s easy to say when you’re not the one losing a child that you’d accept it, but I think she has to know she’s done everything, and she’s just not there yet. As a mother, Leanne can’t turn Oliver’s machine off, and that’s the bottom line for me.”

Leanne finally makes the hardest decision any parent will ever have to face. But she still finds it impossibly difficult to say goodbye to Oliver.

According to Danson, “It’s her worst nightmare – all this fight now for nothing. She’s done everything, and it hasn’t changed anything. She’s devastated by the loss of what could have been.

“Everyone else’s life is going on. But she’s trapped in a vicious circle of guilt, anger, sadness and despair. For everything Leanne is, she has got a heart and it’s going to be completely broken. The journey to say goodbye is absolutely devastating.”

Danson says that as a mother herself – she has two sons, aged 14 and 11 – she has found this plotline particularly challenging.

“Being on a hospital set for 12 hours a day talking about a dying child is tough, but this happens to real families and we owe it to them to tell it as truthfully as we can.

“The scripts have been amazing and it’s not been hard to feel the sadness. But at the same time over the years, I’ve learnt to switch off for my family. You have to be able to box it and have family time, meals, homework, dropping the kids off.”

The actress believes it is important soaps tackle such stories.

“Soap can be so high profile and so constant that it has the opportunity to provoke thought and bring attention to issues that may not be discussed.”

Danson wraps up by paying tribute to The Lily Foundation, a charity supporting children with mitochondrial disease which has been helping the actress research this storyline.

“I’d never heard of the condition and when you find out more, it’s possibly one of the most awful things for your child to be diagnosed with. But the way people cope is phenomenal.

“I met with Liz Curtis, the founder of the Lily Foundation, who is an amazing lady. She’s been through this journey herself.

“She then selflessly set up a charity to help other families and has raised lots of money to fund research and support.

“That’s what she chose to do after going through the most devastating thing that life can throw at you. I think that’s incredible.”

“I’ve learnt to switch off for my family. You have to be able to box it and have family time, meals, homework, dropping the kids off.”

– Jane Danson