Last year 'Lizzie' was waiting for a heart transplant...bless.
found this on Wiki...She was spotted by production staff from the soap Emmerdale when she was appearing in a one-woman stage show where she talked about her life as a blind woman.
They approached her with a view to creating an authentic blind character for Emmerdale, to be played by Kitty McGeever, who would also develop the part. She first appeared as former criminal Lizzie Lakely in Emmerdale on 28 April 2009, at the age of 38; Lakely is the first permanent blind character in a British soap.
She is given her scripts as sound recordings, and has two government-sponsored assistants to guide her around the studios; they also guide her through the sets during rehearsals, and ensure continuity between recordings.