Former Emmerdale star Leah Bracknell has said she is "overwhelmed" that a campaign to raise £50,000 to fund her cancer treatment has exceeded its target in just a few days.
Mother-of-two Bracknell, who played Zoe Tate in the ITV soap from 1989 to 2005, was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer five weeks ago.
The 52-year-old's partner, Jez Hughes, set up an online fundraising campaign earlier this week to send her for groundbreaking treatment in Germany and more than 2,500 donations have been made already.
Bracknell, who has worked as a yoga teacher in recent years, said she was "so deeply moved and touched and humbled" by people's generosity.
"I had no idea, did not expect anything like this," she wrote. "From the bottom of my heart I thank you, and send oceans of love your way, wherever you are and whatever you may be going through now.
"I feel very blessed. Very lucky to have a chance of treatment options because of you. I am in everlasting gratitude."
Bracknell had earlier written on the fundraising page about how her diagnosis had come about.
"I began to feel breathless climbing stairs... I just put it down to a bit of stress," she said. "My abdomen suddenly ballooned - and within a matter of a few days I looked heavily pregnant. I could barely walk or breathe. Then, one Saturday night at the beginning of September I ended up in A&E."
She had excess fluid removed from around her heart and was later diagnosed with stage four lung cancer.
"In their opinion, that means it's terminal, not curable, not operable," she wrote.
Bracknell, whose real first name is Alison and is known to her family as Ali, said that her priority is "getting well and strong" to be a "good mother, daughter, wife, or at least the best I can be", and that she wants to "defy expectation".
Explaining why they were fundraising online, Hughes wrote: "Due to difficult personal circumstances, Ali/Leah has been unable to work in her chosen profession of acting for a number of years which has seen a big drain on her resources. Understandably, she is unable to continue acting or teaching right now."
