'Hollyoaks' Stewart hopes to walk again

Hollyoaks star Kelly-Marie Stewart, who has Guillain-Barré syndrome, is aiming to walk again.

Stewart, 24, who plays Hayley Ramsay in the Channel 4 soap, lost the ability to walk aged 21.

The rare disease damages the body's nervous system and can leave sufferers paralysed.

"It started with pins and needles in my feet. Then one day when I was driving on the motorway I couldn't control the accelerator properly," she told the Daily Star.

"I went to see my doctor and he sent me to hospital. They were really worried, so they asked me to stay in for a few days. On the second day I was walking to the toilet and I collapsed. I've not been able to walk since.

"It happened so quickly, it was incredibly frightening. But I was lucky, some people are paralysed from the neck down. At least I still have the use of my upper body."

The actress said that she is now hopeful that she can achieve her dream of walking again.

"At the beginning I set goals for myself. I would say, 'You’ll be walking by your birthday'. But that never happened. Then it was Christmas, then New Year," she said. "In the end I gave up setting myself goals and just promised myself I'd work as hard as I could every day and take the baby steps to my dream."

Stewart, who has described her role in Hollyoaks as "a dream", also said that she wants to break down barriers for disabled people.

"I think able-bodied people are getting as much out of me being in the soap as disabled people," she said. "Obviously I hope to inspire those in wheelchairs to be proud of who they are but I also want to show that the wheel­­chair doesn't make me who I am.

"Some people find it hard speaking to disabled people but hopefully I am showing I am just a normal girl like all the others on the show."