The actress has been focused on raising awareness and money for Usher syndrome

Emmerdale’s Laura Norton thanked everyone “from the bottom” of her and Mark Jordon’s hearts for their support at the Cure Usher ball.

Actress Laura Norton joined the ITV soap in 2012 and took on the role of Kerry Wyatt. She joined the soap as the estranged mother of Amy Wyatt who was later adopted by Val and Eric Pollard.

Away from the Dales, Laura is engaged to former Emmerdale star Mark Jordon who appeared in the Yorkshire-based soap as Daz Spencer before he left in 2019.

The couple share two children together, their son Jesse and daughter Ronnie.

However, both children were diagnosed with Usher syndrome. It causes impairments to hearing and vision, and currently has no cure.

Laura and Mark have continuously expressed their dedication to finding a cure, and work closely with the charity Cure Usher, that was founded by Jo Milne.

Last weekend, Manchester welcomed the Cure Usher ball – an event created to raise awareness and money for the charity fundraiser.

The actress has previously shared: “In the beginning, it was about our babies. And then you meet other families going through the same thing and it becomes about everyone else.

“It’s such a rare condition and so many people have never heard of it and this community deserves to have people fighting for them and helping raise funds.”

Joined by their Emmerdale co-stars for the disco-themed event, Laura took to her Instagram to declare a massive “thank you” for everyone’s support.

She penned: “10 months of blood, sweat and tears and it was all worth it. I never thought @markjordondad and I would end up having to add event organisers to our CV but after a double diagnosis of usher syndrome for our children we knew we had to do something.

“Usher syndrome is the leading cause of COMBINED hearing and vision loss. People tend to be born with hearing loss and lose their vision over time. There is no real trajectory so it’s a waiting game, a ticking time bomb.”Facing the challenges of hearing loss is one thing, in this amazing world we live in with technical advances people with hearing loss can thrive. Hearing aids and cochlear implants can be offered. But with RP (retinitis pigmentosa) there is NO treatment. Not yet anyway.”With people like the amazing @mariyamoosajee dedicating her life’s work to finding a cure and treatment there is real hope. With funding we could see a treatment within the decade, which would slow down the progression of vision loss or halt it and stop it deteriorating in its tracks. That’s the dream. And can you imagine the impact that would have on the person and their families and friends. LIFE CHANGING.”So @markjordondad and I will carry on fundraising. Until that time comes. We could not achieve this without the help of so many people. So THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts. To all of those who sponsored the event. To those who bought a ticket to attend. To those who bought prizes and made massive donations.

“To everyone who donated a prize no matter how big or small it all made a HUGE difference. To our performers. The hotel. AND our amazing AV team @ultraliveav who just get what we are trying to do and have been with us from day 1. As well as our resident photographer @david_longstaffe and our resident DJ the one and only @house_poet_housefm”To all our friends and families – we see you and have never felt so supported. We are so proud to eventually tell our children what you all have and are doing for them.”Thank you from us 4 and the whole Usher community. And on we go …… See you next year”.

Co-star Eden Taylor-Draper commented: “So proud of you both. Gorgeous people” as Michelle Hardwick added: “An incredible night”.