Tragic Elaine
As former EastEnders actress Elaine Lordan is pictured drinking in the street, we look back at her heartbreaking story...
She played eldest Slater sister Lynne Hobbs in
EastEnders, but since she left our screens, actress Elaine Lordan has been keeping a relatively low profile.
But, last week, Elaine, 51, was pictured swigging from a mini bottle of wine in the street. Exactly as she was seen doing four years ago (as our pictures show on the right).
And while the recent snaps have rightly sparked fears for the actress, it’s sadly the latest blow in a heartbreaking past.
Because, after she bowed out of the BBC soap in 2004, Elaine was hit by a string of tragedies. In March 2005, Elaine’s mum, Bernie – who had attempted suicide twice before – killed herself by jumping in front of a London Tube train, aged just 62.
Nine months later, Elaine’s baby, James, died just days after his first birthday – after suffering from breathing difficulties.
Having found the courage to try for another baby, one year later, Elaine tragically miscarried at six weeks.
Opening up about the tough times, Elaine confessed, ‘Mum promised me she wouldn’t do anything, but she still did...
‘I have come to terms with it now, but I hope other people facing similar situations will get help.’
But it was talking about the horror of burying her own child that saw her speak with the most emotion. ‘He lay there looking perfectly peaceful, his eyes closed and his little face pink,’ she said. ‘I lifted his eyelids. Perhaps I hoped to see a flicker of life, even then.’
It’s just all so unspeakably sad.
Elaine later added that she often wonders what her son would be like today. ‘I think about James all the time,’ she revealed. ‘ We only had him for a year but, in that year, he taught us so much.’
Unbelievably, more heartache followed when Elaine’s beloved dad, Garrett, passed away from a rare and progressive brain disease three years later.
Detailing their close bond, Elaine said, ‘It’s such a cruel illness, and it was hard to watch someone you love suffering so much.
‘After wanting him to go, because of all his suffering, it was bloody difficult when he did. Suddenly I didn’t have any parents left and it was awful.’
It’s enough to break anyone. We hope, if this was more than a one-off lapse, Elaine defeats whatever demons she’s is battling now...
‘I lifted his eyelids. Perhaps I hoped to see a flicker of life, even then’