I was on Coronation Street and Emmerdale but a freak supermarket accident killed my acting career
A FORMER Coronation Street and Emmerdale star has revealed how a freak supermarket accident ended her soap career.
Jeni Williams, 56, suffered a spinal injury when she slipped in a supermarket cafe in Winford, Cheshire in September 2016.
The star has not appeared on TV since the accident, which damaged nerves running through her spine.
She told the : "Overnight my life changed. I slipped on some fluid on the floor at a supermarket café.
"For my treatment and recovery I was under 21 departments in nine different hospitals."
Jeni was bedridden in hospital and needed to be taken to the loo by a nurse.
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She said: "I had given up on myself, but my friends and loved ones, they didn’t give up on me."
The actress played a number of roles in Coronation Street including Sheila Hayes and the woman running Dev Alahan's shop.
Jeni also played PC Jill Bruce in Emmerdale and Miss Riley in Hollyoaks - and still holds out hope for a Corrie comeback.
She said: "In the Coronation Street storyline I’ve got two kids by Dev Alahan, so you never know, I could come back to the cobbles with his children."
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The soap star has lived for five years at an independent living scheme in Radcliffe, Greater Manchester.
After a seven-year recovery, she is now set to move into her own home in Horwich, near Bolton.
Jeni praised the not-for-profit Irwell Valley Homes scheme in Radcliffe for helping her recover after she "gave up on herself".
The scheme now supports 20,000 people in 11 independent living schemes across Greater Manchester.
Although Jeni still suffers chronic pain, she can now walk again - and made a comeback in a 2019 performance of a short play, The Outing.
It comes as Coronation Street legend Charlie faces legal action and is being chased for thousands of pounds after his posh deli went bust.
The husband of Corrie star legend Julie Goodyear revealed that she is suffering from dementia.