Michael Parr, who plays Ross Barton in Emmerdale, has opened up about the terrifying ordeal he faced when he was rushed to hospital after hallucinating for four days

Emmerdale viewers are in for a heart-stopping week as April Windsor finds herself in peril, teetering on the brink of a multi-storey car park after being snatched by the unscrupulous boxing promoter Jade. Ross Barton, portrayed by Michael Parr, who recently made a dramatic return to the soap with a six-year gap, is throwing punches left, right and centre to save her.

The tension escalates with the high-stakes scenes at the car park, which holds tragic significance as the place where April’s mother Donna, Ross’ former flame, tragically ended her life a decade ago. But it’s not just the nail-biting drama that’s catching viewers’ attention – Michael’s chiselled form during the fight sequences is certainly turning heads.

However, it was only two years ago that Michael faced his own battles off-screen, including a debilitating back injury and a harrowing hospital stay due to suspected Legionnaire’s disease. Speaking to The Mirror, Michael, 38, reflects on his journey: “If you can’t move you can’t act.”

He marvels at his recovery, saying, “To go from that to where I am now seems like a miracle.”

The irony doesn’t escape him; it was during an attempt to stay fit that he sustained a severe back injury at the gym, reports the Mirror.

Recounting the ordeal, he shares, “It was terrifying; it was by far the worst pain I’ve felt in my entire life. The injury froze me and I couldn’t move,” adding, “I was permanently in bed and bent over. It even impacted my breathing.”

“My immediate thought was that I was going to be like that for the rest of my life. ” Unable to walk for a week, he shares: “The panic really set in that I’d done myself some permanent damage. He was still recovering from the injury when he was rushed to hospital with suspected Legionnaires’ disease, while filming alongside Bollywood A-listers for a new movie in India. Found delirious and hallucinating in his hotel room by a colleague, he was rushed straight to hospital.”

Still on the mend from his injury, he found himself in a dire situation, hospitalised with suspected Legionnaires’ disease while working with Bollywood’s finest on a new film in India. Discovered in a state of delirium and hallucination by a colleague, he was taken straight to the emergency room.

“I dropped about 20lb in four days and my cheekbones were starting to protrude,” he recounts. “I’d been in my room hallucinating for four days. I didn’t know what was going on. I was delirious. I’m a massive chess player and I was so out of it I kept thinking I was a chess piece.”

Suffering severe dehydration, he was treated with electrolytes which induced sickness and required an IV drip.

“Being taken to hospital in a foreign country is always scary, but especially when you can’t communicate with the doctors,” he admits. A health buff since childhood in St Helens, Merseyside, Michael enjoyed football and basketball, took up weight training as a teen inspired by his granddad’s back injury, and got into martial arts during drama school.

Post-injury, he sought various treatments, saying: “Following the injury, I went to see orthopaedic doctors and physios. I went for acupuncture and cupping and I began walking again. I tried absolutely everything. I wanted to get back on my feet as soon as possible.”

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t still get nervous if I feel a little pain in my back, but as I approach 40, I no longer put my body through the punishment that I used to. You only get one body so you’d better look after it.”

“I used to train really hard at the gym, but I tailor my workouts now. I’ve quit lifting heavy weights and I now do a lot of yoga and stretching.”

His fitness has been an asset in his current bare-knuckle fighting storyline, which then sees him wrongly accused by Jade of stealing £10,000 before being warned his family could be in danger if he can’t find the money. But when April Windsor (Amelia Flanagan) is kidnapped, the real drama starts, as he mounts a heroic rescue bid.

Previously winning Best Actor, Best Villain and Sexiest Male, when he was in Emmerdale, he is delighted that his dramatic comeback means he’s right back in the thick of things. Michael, who has also been in The Long Shadow and Douglas is Cancelled, as well as making films in Morocco and India, was in LA when Covid struck and “burnt through cash,” “After that there was the writers’ strike. It was bad timing,” he says.

Of his Emmerdale comeback, he adds: “I had a play lined up and then Emmerdale called and asked if I was interested. I chatted with them and got excited about the story.”