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Elspeth Arbow brought authenticity to her acting debut on The Good Doctor as a cystic fibrosis patient in need of a lung transplant – a procedure she’s undergone twice in real life.

Arbow graduated from University of Toronto with a bachelor’s degree in cinema studies in 2019, about a year after receiving her second double-lung transplant. 

Originally from Saint John, N.B., Arbow told  that she initially had reservations about playing a character whose health struggles so closely mirrored her own – but has never been one to back down from a challenge. “I realized the thing I would be reliving is the same thing that made me the type of person that would want to do this,” she told the broadcaster.

Arbow, who was a member of Innis College, says she had some emotional moments while shooting the TV medical drama, but ultimately, she enjoyed her experience on set – from the catering to meeting Freddie Highmore, the show’s star.