Entertainment
BBC star reveals horrific ordeal suffering from debilitating health condition since she was 3-Meghna Amin-Entertainment – Metro
She’s been suffering for years.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
BBC presenter Cherry Healey has opened up about the agony she’s faced since she was a young child, having suffered from urinary tract infections.
The TV star, 43, has been open about her battle with the condition in a past, and revealed that she’s been left hospitalised and with scarred kidneys.
In a new interview on This Morning, Cherry explained that the infection – which can affect the urinary tract, bladder, urethra or kidneys – actually began when she was younger than she thought.
Speaking to hosts Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley, Cherry recalled her mum telling her she was just three years old when she suffered from her first UTI.
‘She said, “You actually had to go to hospital and you were put on a funny machine where you were turned upside down and filled with dye.”‘
‘That made sense as to why I’m so prone to them,’ Cherry said, adding her first memory with one was when she was six.
She went on to say her worst period struggling with UTIs was in her 30s after having children, when she would sometimes have them every month.
‘They’re serious, and if left untreated you could get sepsis and you could die,’ Cherry warned, before revealing one horrific experience she had at a friend’s wedding.
Cherry first suffered a UTI when she was just 3 (Picture: Alan Chapman/Dave Benett/Getty Images)
What is a UTI?
According to the NHS, Urinary tract infections (UTIs) can affect your urinary tract, including your bladder (cystitis), urethra (urethritis) or kidneys (kidney infection).
Symptoms include a pain or burning sensation, needing to go to the toilet more often than usual, blood in your urine, a high temperature or pain in your back.
GPs can offer self-care advice or recommend taking painkillers, or give a prescription for antibiotics.
The Inside the Factory presenter was maid of honour at a close friend’s wedding in the countryside, where a doctor was unavailable.
She was left taking painkillers and drinking cranberry juice to get through the event, but could feel herself getting sicker.
‘I just felt horrendous,’ she recalled.
‘I had a blanket wrapped around me for the whole wedding because I was shaking uncontrollably,’ Cherry added.
After being rushed to A&E the next day, she discovered the infection had moved to her kidneys, despite thinking it wasn’t a UTI at the time.
The BBC star has been left with permanent damage to her kidneys (Picture: Channel 5/Photographer Falconer)
Cherry stars alongside Gregg Wallace on Inside The Factory (Picture: BBC/Simon J Hanna)
‘I was in hospital for five days on an IV and antibiotics, and it scarred my kidneys, and that’s what happens if you don’t listen to your body!’
One of the symptoms Cherry suffers from due to UTIs is depression, but soon discovered she wasn’t alone.
Ahead of her appearance on This Morning, a make-up artist backstage told her it feels like wanting ‘to take off my own skin’.
‘It gets to the point where it’s unbearable,’ she added, as she urged for an over the counter non-antibiotic treatment option.
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
Entertainment – MetroRead More
