Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Emmerdale’s Leah loses her brave battle with cancer at just 55...
HER HEARTBREAKING LAST INTERVIEW: ‘I’M HOPING FOR A MIRACLE’
JUST weeks ago, former Emmerdale star Leah Bracknell spoke of her hopes for an “impossible miracle” in her battle with lung cancer.
But sadly it was not to be, and the much-loved actress’s family revealed last night she had passed away last month.
Leah, 55, was diagnosed with stage 4 of the disease in 2016. But although she was told her condition was terminal, she refused to fixate on death and instead chose to focus on living.
From her complete positivity when I spoke to Leah in August, I never imagined it would be her last interview.
She told me then: “I still hope I could get my impossible miracle.
“And if not, I am going to have a bloody good time along the way. I don’t need to go and fulfil a bucket list, that’s not my style. I just want to do the things I want to do while I am healthy and strong.
“I won’t let myself live in fear – I’m just going to live a good life.”
Leah was best known for playing Emmerdale’s Zoe Tate for 16 years from December 1989.
She was devoted to her grown-up daughters Maya and Lily, and her “rock” Jez Hughes who she quietly married in 2017, six months after her diagnosis.
Yesterday her agent released a statement saying: “It is with the deepest sadness that Leah Bracknell’s family confirm that Leah passed away in September, three years after her diagnosis with stage 4 lung cancer.
POSITIVITY
“They would like to thank all the public for their support and generosity which contributed to the extension and quality of her life over the past three years. Leah continued to embrace life and faced her illness with positivity.
“Leah had an energy and enthusiasm for life, a kind heart and much love to give to those around her.”
Her caring nature and talent were the focus of tributes to the actress.
Lisa Riley, who plays Emmerdale’s Mandy Dingle, said: “Leah lived her life to the fullest, her legacy will truly live on.
“She played my fairy godmother in Emmerdale and that’s what she was in real life too – there was nobody on that show Leah didn’t help. She’ll be missed so much by everyone who knew her.”
Dominic Brunt, who plays vet Paddy Kirk in the ITV soap, said: “I lost a good friend today. She was truly amazing in lots of different ways and I shall miss her.”
Adele Silva, who played Kelly Windsor, said: “A truly lovely human being – such a sad loss.” And Coronation Street star Sally Ann Matthews, who previously starred as Sandra Briggs in the Dales series, said: “So sorry to hear that the beautiful soul, Leah Bracknell, has lost her battle with cancer. The world has lost a little sparkle.”
Born Alison Rosalind Bracknell, the actress took the professional name Leah in honour of her Chinese-malaysian actress mother Li-er Hwang.
Her father, television director David, gave Leah her first acting role in TV series The Chiffy Kids in 1976, before she took her future into her own hands. Aged 25, only two years after studying at Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, she landed a role in Emmerdale.
John Whiston, head of ITV in the North, said: “Everyone on Emmerdale is very sad to hear of the death of Leah Bracknell. Leah was a hugely popular member of the Emmerdale cast for over 16 years.
“During that time she featured in some of the show’s most high-profile and explosive plots, and always delivered a pitch-perfect performance. Zoe Tate was one of soap’s first lesbian characters and Leah made sure the character was both exciting and credible. Leah herself was a very generous and caring colleague, much loved by cast and crew alike.”
She left the series in 2005 in an episode
Leah embraced life and faced her illness with positivity STATEMENT RELEASED BY LEAH’S AGENT YESTERDAY
voted Best Exit at the 2006 British Soap Awards.
But that certainly did not spell the end of her acting career, and she went on to appear in Judge John Deed, Casualty 1907, A Touch of Frost, DCI Banks, Doctors and another ITV1 soap, The Royal Today.
She also turned her attention to theatre, starring in both Gaslight and Strangers On A Train.
Her battle with cancer came to light when a Go Fund Me page was launched to raise money for her to undergo treatment overseas. Her first oncologist had told her she had just months to live.
But she refused to contemplate death. Using her experience as a yoga teacher and shamanic healer, she decided to take on a positive mindset, saying: “I sat myself down and thought, ‘How do I want to live now?’ The focus is all on dying. “So I thought, ‘How can I get the most out of my life,
who do I want to be?’ You can still live a rich life whatever sh** is thrown at you.”
More than 2,500 fans raised £50,000 to help pay for cutting-edge treatment for her in Germany. She thanked everyone involved, saying: “I really did not expect or feel deserving of such interest and kindness.”
And she refused to be defined by traditional labels. Taking inspiration from the Extinction Rebellion protests she attended over the summer despite her illness, she described herself as a “cancer rebel”.
She said: “A lot of the labels around cancer are very military – you battle cancer, you’ve got to keep fighting it.
“There’s a lot of language that is very negative and not very helpful for someone with cancer.
“I read headlines about myself and they’d say things like cancer victim, cancer sufferer, cancer-stricken. But I didn’t recognise myself in that – that was not how I would describe myself.”
She really was no victim. Leah refused to listen to doctors’ prognosis, instead choosing to focus on living her life to the full. In that last interview, listening to her talk with such optimism about her illness and hopes for the future was truly humbling.
Leah was most certainly a glasshalf-full person, and she refused to be defined by her illness or let it stop her enjoying life.
She spoke of setting an example to her two beloved daughters Maya and Lily of how to rise to life’s most extreme challenges.
As the family mourn her loss together, there is no doubt that Leah’s spirit and positivity will live on through them – following the example she set, just as she wanted.
Her legacy will live on. She’ll be missed so much by everyone who knew her LISA RILEY EMMERDALE’S MANDY DINGLE