The couple got engaged in August after four years of dating and plan to tie the knot over the next two years.
The couple got engaged in August after four years of dating and plan to tie the knot over the next two years.
Speaking to the RTÉ Guide, the HSE worker turned personal trainer that she suffered a stroke while dating Maclean and now has a dormant blood clot on her brain.
“I’m on medication for the rest of my life to prevent it happening again,” she explained.
“I rang an ambulance myself for the stroke, because I knew the symptoms, but I was told if I had gone to sleep that I wouldn’t have woken up, so of course, that is scary.”
Cat said she has an “awful fear of death” after the incident because she worries for her three children: Stephen (24), Paul (21), and Jamie (13).
She is also a grandmother to Heidi (1) and 10-month-old Hugo, while Maclean is dad to Cillian (22), Jude (21), Ava (19), and Beau (12).
“It’s not just the fear of dying that scares me,” she said.
“Boys need their mother and because we’re very close, I find that terrifying. So, I take good care, I request an MRI every year to make sure that it’s OK.
“It’s anxiety to do with ADHD. I fixate on certain things so if I get a headache or a bit wobbly, I stress that it might be happening again.
“I feel like a ticking time bomb sometimes. If I’m in great form it doesn’t bother me, but if I’m having a bad day, then I worry,” she added.
Meanwhile, Maclean, who plays Damien Halpin on Fair City, opened up about living ADHD and depression, which he was diagnosed with after his first marriage ended.
“There is definitely no truer sentence than ‘time is a great healer, and to have a good person beside you.’
“Also, for me, the gym was great because working out allowed me to fix my mind as well, to be able to prioritise what I needed to do.
“It was a long road and it’s not over for me, in that I’ve parked some stuff for now.
“I’ll probably go and try and deal with some issues down the road, because right now we’re busy trying to raise our kids and make a life for each other.
“Everyone has their own baggage, and my baggage is not for Cat to carry either.”
