Why I’m so determined to live life to the full
The Bond girl tells ELIZABETH ARCHER how almost dying made her appreciate life more than ever
LUCKY might not be the word many people who have suffered a near-fatal brain haemorrhage and aggressive breast cancer would choose. But former Bond girl Susie Vanner is determined to make the most of every day.
“I feel lucky to have survived,” says Susie, 69.
In recent weeks, feeling isolated has been a challenge for Susie, who split from her husband Warren Todd last year after 32 years together.
She lives alone and is following government advice to stay indoors, apart from a daily walk or run. “I’m finding it very difficult to be on my own, to be isolated indoors,” she says. “We’re human beings and we need to talk to each other.”
But Susie, who describes herself as a “fighter”, is tackling the challenge with characteristic positivity. “I’m living for running and walking in the park at the moment. I exercise every day. I’m sure we’ll all get through it.”
And following her split from Warren, she is preparing to release an album in the autumn. “It’s a dream come true,” she says.
Susie rose to fame in 1977 Bond flick,The SpyWho Loved Me, starring alongside Roger Moore.
But she gave up her career shortly after. “When I met my husband, I was so happy and we were very in love so I didn’t want to leave him to go to work.”
They married in the late 1980s and had a son Ryan a few years later.
Her son was just three when, at the age of 44, Susie suffered a subarachnoid brain haemorrhage caused by a malformed vein.
The star has no family history of haemorrhages and had no symptoms.
“My husband and I were sitting with his mother having a nice drink and a chat.
“I suddenly had the most terrible headache, which is very unusual for me because
I don’t suffer with headaches.
“I remember running to the front door and saying: ‘This is serious – get me to the hospital’.After that I don’t remember anything else.”
BY THE time Warren got Susie into the car, she was vomiting. He drove from their Notting Hill home to the Cromwell Hospital, but was sent away because they didn’t have the right facilities.
A second hospital thought Susie was on drugs. “I’ve never taken drugs in my life. I can’t imagine what I looked like. I was in a very weird state,” she says.
Finally they reached the Charing Cross Hospital, where doctors immediately recognised she was probably having a brain haemorrhage and quickly confirmed the news with a scan.
Susie was in a coma for two days. “Doctors later told me they didn’t know if I would live or die. I was in a coma for 48 hours and it was touch and go all that time.
“They didn’t know if they’d have to try to give me surgery to drain the blood.
“I was very lucky because just at the last moment the blood drained naturally and I was out of the emergency situation.”
When she came round she was blind. “The first memory I have is of feeling panic because I couldn’t see. I knew my husband was there with me and he told me not to worry.
“The surgeon didn’t know whether it would ever recover.”
But thankfully, over the next few weeks her eyesight returned.
For the following three months, Susie recovered at the Charing Cross Hospital, but she recalls few details of her time there.
Eventually, she was discharged but was left with double vision. “When I came out of hospital it was quite bad and it made me quite dizzy, so I wore an eyepatch. Even now when I go up and down the stairs I have to shut one eye. It slows me down in pinpointing things and if I’m tired I have to move my head in certain ways.”
Susie had always been very active, but had to give up a lot of her favourite sports. But she feels fortunate to have survived.
After a series of tests doctors eventually discovered the abnormal tangle of arteries and veins which had caused her rupture and bleed.
Such tangles are present from birth and have no symptoms, but aren’t hereditary.
“I worried it might happen again, but there was no sign of anything on the scans.They couldn’t even see a sign of where the haemorrhage had happened.”
Thirteen years later, Susie was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer which had spread to her lymph nodes.
With no symptoms, the tumour was picked up during a routine mammogram.
“It was a complete shock. No-one in my family had cancer apart from my father who had lung cancer, but he smoked about 80 cigarettes a day so I didn’t think that was relevant.” Susie had the tumour and lymph nodes removed a week after the diagnosis. Now, 12 years on, she feels as fit as ever. “I do yoga and power walking and intermittent running in the park every day.” She also follows a diet of fish, vegetables and nuts. Whatever happens next, she is determined to take it in her stride.
“When I had the haemorrhage it was worrying for us as a family but from that point on I decided to live every day to the full.
“At the time we were struggling a bit financially but we realised money isn’t the be all and end all.
“Life is fragile, you have to live every day to the full.”