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Narnia child actress Georgie Henley speaks for first time about flesh-eating disease that almost killed her: ‘I’m finally free’-Rachael O'Connor-Entertainment – Metro
The star is no longer hiding her scars.
![Narnia child actress Georgie Henley speaks for first time about flesh-eating disease that almost killed her: ‘I’m finally free’-Rachael O'Connor-Entertainment – Metro](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/SEC_131058338-10db.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1024)
Narnia star Georgie Henley revealed she contracted a flesh-eating disease which almost took her arm and hand (Picture: Getty / REX
An actress who shot to fame as a child for portraying Lucy Pevensie in The Chronicles of Narnia has spoken for the first time about almost dying as a teenager.
Georgie Henley, 27, is best known for starring alongside the likes of Tilda Swinton, Liam Neeson and James McAvoy in the 2005 film adaption of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, first written by C S Lewis in 1950.
She has since gone on to appear in multiple films and TV series, including portraying a Tudor in a leading role for The Spanish Princess.
However, Georgie says she always intentionally covered up while working, so as not to show the scars and skin grafts that saved her hand from a flesh-eating virus she contracted as a teenager.
Taking to Instagram on Wednesday, Georgie explained she had just started university when she contracted necrotising fasciitis, ‘a rare and punishing infection that nearly claimed my life and wrought havoc throughout my body’.
She explained that, in order to save her hand and arm, she ‘received gruelling invasive surgery, and later extensive reconstructive surgery which resulted in a series of skin grafts and scars’.
Georgie rose to fame through playing Lucy Pevensie in the acclaimed series (Picture: REX/Shutterstock)
She says she would cover up while working so as not to show her scars (Picture: Getty Images)
Opening up for the first time, Georgie admitted it took ‘a long time to heal both physically and mentally but I hoped that one day there would be the right time to talk about what happened. Today is a start’.
She went on: ‘For the last nine years I have been open about my scars in my personal life, but have hidden them entirely in any professional context: wearing bandages or coverings, makeup on set and stage, long sleeves whenever I might be photographed, trousers so I could put my hand in a pocket.
What is necrotising fasciitis?
Necrotising fasciitis, also known as the ‘flesh-eating disease’, is a rare and life-threatening infection that can happen if a wound gets infected.
It is extremely rare and can be fatal.
Symptoms begin with intense pain or loss of feeling near a cut or wound, swelling of the skin around the affected area and flu-like symptoms.
Later symptoms include vomiting, diarrhoea, confusion and black or purple blisters on the skin.
Learn more on the NHS website.
‘The industry I am part of often focuses on a very narrow idea of what is deemed aesthetic “perfection”, and I worried that my scars would prevent me from getting work.’
She said she knows there is ‘no such thing as perfection’, but admitted she ‘still lived with the shame of feeling different, exacerbated by the expectations that came with beginning my career at a young age’.
The young actress now says her scars are ‘not something to be ashamed of’ (Picture: Walt Disney/Walden Media/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)
‘But my scars are not something to be ashamed of. They are a map of the pain my body has endured, and most importantly a reminder of my survival. They do not affect my capacity as an actor, and I’m proud to be a person who has visible scars in this industry.’
Georgie went on to thank hospital staff for saving her lie with their ‘exceptional care’, as well as her family and friends ‘for their enduring love and support’.
‘Thank you to my agents and the people who have employed me in the last nine years, who never saw my scars as a problem and respected who I was as a person and actor.
Georgie has thanked everyone who supported her and says she will speak out further in the future (Picture: WireImage)
‘Thank you lastly to every person who is reading this and has supported me and my work, it truly means more than you can know.’
She said she would open up further about her experience in the future, ‘but today I am simply happy to feel, for the first time in a very long time, finally free’.
Georgie began her acting career through her role in the Narnia franchise, playing the youngest Pevensie sibling, Lucy, when she was just nine years old.
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She starred alongside William Moseley (Peter), Skandar Keynes (Edmund), Anna Popplewell (Susan) who played her siblings and the High Kings and Queens of Narnia in the series.
Starting with The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, Georgie also appeared in sequels Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
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