“My parents were told to say goodbye” – actor on her play based on life-changing accident

Eleanor May Blackburn had only been living in Falmouth for two months, after moving there from Sheffield to study a degree in acting, when she was hit by a speeding push bike. 

Now, Eleanor tells her story through a play she has produced and also performs.

NR Times speaks with Eleanor May Blackburn about the accident, her recovery and how she came to create the play.

Eleanor has always had the passion for acting, putting on plays like Oliver Twist when she was young for her parents.

This developed into her attending drama lessons and getting into an agency, which led to supporting artist roles with the likes of the CBBC.

“Leaving school, I had to carry on acting, I can’t do anything else, but I was very academic” Eleanor tells us.

Eleanor’s parents have always been big supporters of their daughter’s dreams, her mother was contacted by Eleanor’s career adviser who thought she should be pursuing an academical route rather than theatre.

To which Eleanor’s mother politely suggested that her daughter can make her own decisions about her career path.

After leaving college Eleanor had her sites set on university to study an acting degree.

On November 19th 2015, Eleanor was hit by a speeding push bike on her way home from university.

“My mum and dad were called by the doctor who said ‘when can you get here?’”

The journey from Sheffield to Falmouth takes over six hours and the doctors needed Eleanor’s parent’s permission to operate.

The doctor also informed her parent’s that they needed to “be ready to say their goodbye’s”.

The accident caused a bleed on Eleanor’s brain which led to a stroke, she spent two weeks in an induced coma and spent a further two months in hospital.

For her recovery, Eleanor was allowed to return home, with frequent visits from an occupational therapist.

She would also go through weeks of hydrotherapy and visit a brain injury specialist centre.

In September 2016 Eleanor would return back to uni. As she was still recovering, her university provided her a space in the library where she could go and rest if needed.

It was whist in third year that she would produce ‘Subdural Hematoma’ as part of her module ‘show in a bag’.

At first, Eleanor describes performing the play as “cathartic” as she tell us she hadn’t yet processed what had happened. 

Now though, she is “great and not fazed by it”.

The show itself has had rave reviews:

“That conflict between tragedy and comedy makes for a fascinating stage experience.The delivery method is incredible. It’s strangely scary. This is what can happen in a theatre if the show is any good. 

“Something profound and unspoken seems to be lurking in this show, it gets touched upon when we consider the concept of the person before the injury and the person after. 

Candid and up-front, Subdural Hematoma delivers fascinating tales from a journey that, hopefully, none of us will ever have to take.” – The Greater Manchester Reviewer

“The simplicity of physical movement, juxtaposed with the audio narrative describing Eleanor’s inability to speak, move, and even go to the toilet, is very thought provoking. 

“The play makes excellent use of minimal props and staging. The placement of personal objects onstage which are used over the course of the play is also intriguing, as they give the audience a physical representation of aspects of her story. 

“Undoubtedly, ‘Subdural Hematoma’ is a brave piece tackled with gusto and uses simple staging and props effectively.” – North West End UK

Eleanor has also had a poem book published called “Ghost and Found” which is based on the “Ghosts she found along the way” on her recovery.