This article contains spoilers for tonight’s Coronation Street, which has not yet aired on TV but is available to watch now on ITVX.

Tonight’s episode of Coronation Street delivered some devastating scenes as Debbie Webster (Sue Devaney) visited a doctor.

The hotel chain owner had grown concerned after a number of seemingly unrelated incidents, but the final straw was when she blanked out during a conversation with Dee-Dee Bailey (Channique Sterling-Brown) last week.

She booked an emergency appointment at the end of Monday’s episode, and was sat in the doctor’s office by the start of today’s.

As Debbie explained her worries to the doctor, a series of flashbacks filled in some blanks from incidents over the past few weeks.

We learnt that Debbie had actually found her purse in the fridge after accusing Mick Michaelis (Joe Layton) of stealing it, and had been totally alone when she collapsed in the ginnel a few days later.

She also recalled an incident after Jack Webster (Kyran Bowes) had been suspended from school where she lost her temper with him, in a way that came as a shock to her.

What’s wrong with Debbie?

After listening to Debbie’s account, the doctor informed her that it sounded as though she had suffered a transient ischaemic attack (TIA), which is a form of mini-stroke.

Debbie was shocked, having assumed that her symptoms had been a result of the menopause – but the doctor ruled this out because her last blood tests showed that her oestrogen levels were in the correct range.

He explained that he was referring her to a neurologist for further cognitive tests and an MRI, which only heightened Debbie’s anxiety as she demanded to know what the doctor suspected was wrong with her.

Reluctantly, he admitted that he suspected she had young-onset dementia.

The news hit Debbie hard

Debbie was understandably stunned, before she insisted that she couldn’t possibly have dementia, as she was a 56 year old successful businesswoman whose family needed her.

It was then that she broke down in an emotional scene as the reality began to sink in.

The doctor encouraged her not to panic until she’d received a proper diagnosis, but urged her to be honest with partner Ronnie Bailey (Vinta Morgan).