Emmerdale's Leah Bracknell ‘staggered’ by lung cancer treatment donations and tells This Morning she is ‘terribly optimistic’

Former soap star Leah Bracknell has revealed she was left “staggered” after fans rallied round to raise £56,000 in the wake of her lung cancer diagnosis.

Bracknell, 52, was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer after being rushed to hospital last month.

A GoFundMe page was set up by Bracknell and her partner Jez to raise money for treatment at the specialist Hallwang clinic in Germany.

Speaking on This Morning for her first and only interview about the diagnosis, Bracknell said she never imagined the fundraising page would gain so much attention.

“We didn’t know it was going to go public at all,” she said. “We thought naively perhaps it would just be friends and close friends, so it’s been a strange few days with it in the news.

“It was a long time ago since I was in Emmerdale. I genuinely had no idea. I’m completely staggered that people even read about it.”

The actress – who played Zoe Tate for 16 years on Emmerdale – said the diagnosis came “out of the blue” and left her swollen and breathless.

“I started to feel a little bit breathless and thought it was stress but it got worse and I couldn’t get up a flight of stairs,” she recalled. “I swelled within about four or five days.”

Bracknell was taken to A&E and underwent 10 days of testing before receiving the diagnosis.

She said her first reaction was “anger” but that her spiritual practice is helping to keep her “optimistic” about finding a cure.

“I’m terribly optimistic,” she told Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield. “Of course I have moments when reality hits, but it’s more you think about the stuff you will leave behind. I draw a lot on my yoga and spiritual practice.”

Bracknell said she doesn't want to rush into a treatment without extensive research, but said she is aware that her time may be limited.

She said: "One doesn’t ask how long they’ve got. I don’t want to be boxed in so that there aren't other options, but I do need to crack on. I don’t think I can afford to sit around, but you musn't just run and panic. You’ve got to do your research."

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