News

Sky presenter Charlie’s fears she can’t have kids following malaria battle

Brave presenter opens up about ongoing struggle

| Updated:

Without a doubt, 2015 is most definitely the year presenter Charlie Webster would like to forget in a hurry.

Although her career was on the rise, her life was turned upside down when she contracted malaria on the eve of the Rio Olympics, after taking part in a 3000 mile charity bike ride across Brazil.

The sports presenter left her friends and family in fear as she lay in a coma fighting for her life.

Read more: LOVE ISLAND: Romance blossoming for shy Camilla and Jonny as they share bed?

Nine months on, she may look fit and healthy, but she still suffers from the after effects of the disease.

Just last week, she was in hospital for an operation that will hopefully enable her to have children in the future.

“I’m really worried I won’t be able to have kids, because I love kids,” the brave star has said.

“It’s weird at the moment and it’s not settled.

“They are looking into it. It’s a real, ‘please, please’ — I want to have kids.”

Even now, the memories of her illness are still raw for Charlie.

She still vividly remembers the night before the Opening Ceremony, when she was suddenly  stricken with cramps, diarrhoea, vomiting and uncontrollable bleeding before collapsing.

When she awoke in hospital she and her family were given the news that she was dying.

It turned out that as well as having caught malaria, she was suffering from a condition called hemolytic uremic syndrome, a complication from a bacterial infection.

The next few days were devastating for her and her family.

She was induced into a coma and within days her organs started to fail.

She was placed on life support and dialysis to keep her alive, but it was thought that there was little medics could do.

Her prognosis was so grim, so her mum Joy flew straight out to Brazil to say goodbye.

But miraculously, tough Charlie fought back and after four months was back on her feet learning to walk again.

By the end of the year she was able to jog.

But then, just as she thought the worst was behind her, Charlie ended up in hospital again unable to breathe.

It turns out that the pressure she had put herself under to get back to normal life had put such a strain on her heart, resulting in her once again ending up on life support.

“I was lying on my sofa for a second, looking at the ceiling, and I just had a flashback to the ceiling in Rio.

“I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even lift my little finger.

“That’s what a flashback is — anything that triggers a memory of what happened.

“I wake up in the night and think I’m still in a coma. It scares me.

She added: “I’ve been given coping mechanisms and it’s really important to ground yourself to show you’re not there, and safe. I just keep crying and I didn’t understand why, but it’s normal.
“I’m embracing it — it’s a good release.

“I can’t express how hard it was to overcome.”

Although Charlie is piecing her life back together, she knows that life will never be the same again for her.

The damage that was done to her kidneys means she is no longer able to drink alcohol, which isn’t easy especially now that she’s on the dating circuit.

“I have been on a couple of dates but it is weird,” she told The Sun.  “One date actually drank a whole bottle of wine in front of me.

Read more: EastEnders: Will Abi REALLY betray sister Lauren to Steven over pregnancy?

“I’m always encouraging and don’t want people to not drink around me but going on a date, it’s different.

“I’m sitting there watching him get drunk! It’s not that entertaining for me and it’s awkward as I’m asking for water. But I’m a cheap date! Maybe it’s a good thing.

“I would like to be with somebody, to have a family.

“At the same time, there are a lot of things I want to achieve. After what happened to me, even more so.”


Christian Guiltenane
Freelance Writer