I hadnt a clue what leukaemia was.. why was Dad crying
SCARLETT: MOMENT DOCS THOUGHT I HAD CANCER
WE were all crammed in a very small hospital room when my dad started to cry.
I’M A Celebrity and Gogglebox star Scarlett Moffatt today talks about a string of “soul destroying” traumas that left her sad and self-conscious.
Our sister paper the Daily Mirror revealed Durham lass Scarlett, 27, suffered panic attacks – after being bullied at school – which left her unable to leave home.
Today, in the first exclusive extract from her new book Me Life Story: Sofa So Good!, she tells of a cancer scare when she was 11, facial paralysis and a childhood accident that left her unable to smile for 10 years, making her easy prey for the bullies.
Book extract by Warren Manger.
I had just been diagnosed with Bell’s palsy, a facial paralysis.
The doctor said to me: “If you can take your socks and shoes off, Miss Scarlett O’hara, I just need to explain something to your parents about why we need to do some blood tests. It’s nothing to be scared of, it will only feel like a scratch.
“We need to do these tests as, on rare occasions, Bell’s palsy can be an early manifestation of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.”
I had no idea what any of the words meant. It’s only now I understand why my parents got so upset. My dad had recovered from a rare skin cancer just four years before.
So the thought of his little girl having tests for that awful C-word – cancer – was heartbreaking. My dad picked up my sock, held it to his eye and started to cry.
“Come on, Dad, my socks don’t smell that bad,” I smiled weakly, trying to cheer him up. Even though I was nervous and confused at what was happening, I just wanted to hear my dad laugh, not cry.
AMAZING
But only three hours or so later, the doctor came back in to tell us amazing news: “Your daughter is fit and healthy – other than the unfortunate case of Bell’s palsy, of course. I’m going to give her strong steroids and it should have cleared within three months.”
He turned out to be right, thankfully. But still, it was a difficult time for me, just as I was starting secondary school in 2001. It was the six-week holiday and one thing after another went wrong.
One day in particular changed my life. My mam was going round my auntie’s house for a cup of tea. “Can I come with you, Mam? I’ll ride round on my bike,” I said.
Wearing a gherkin-green helmet, I rode down the quiet street, ringing my little bell, humming Aqua’s I’m a Barbie Girl.
Then I heard a screech of tyres and everything went into slow motion. A car bumped the back of my bike and I flew over my handlebars. I remember squeezing my eyes closed. Screaming on the inside, please don’t hurt!
I felt the impact on my chin first as it smashed on to the concrete, followed by my teeth.
I remember wanting the pain to stop. I had sh teeth. My on Tammy Girl t
My mam w the dental su gency appoin
A dentist eight injectio my
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ttered my front two ce favourite white op was crimson. s in hysterics calling rgery for an emerment. old Mam I’d need s and the nerves in front right tooth moved – turning it lack as it was technically dead. And I would have to wait until I was 18-21 before getting veneers. I knew I would not have the confidence to smile for a very long time. In fact it was a decade before I smiled again.
I would talk with my hand over my mouth in the hope no one would notice my horrendous teeth.
I looked down when people spoke to me. I had no confidence with boys for years – who would want to kiss me?
Not being able to smile at the other kids on my first day at secondary school was hard.
And the bullies came up with plenty of nicknames – Polystyrene Teeth, Chessboard Teeth, Black Tooth and, of course, Goofy. I remember daydreaming that one day I would wake up and I’d be beautiful. But even my “ugly duckling turning into a swan” dream came down with a crash. Not long after the accident I was diagnosed with Bell’s palsy.
SCREAMING
The doctors said it could be because of the trauma of smashing my teeth.
Being 11 and starting secondary school, it was just soul-destroying.
When the Bell’s palsy struck I remember staring in the mirror, screaming and screaming. “Mam! Dad! Help, help!”
One minute I was fine and the next I felt my whole face collapse. My left eye drooped so much it looked like I was winking. My mouth slouched, I could barely string a sentence together.
I couldn’t get my face to go straight, couldn’t even force my eye open. I was utterly petrified.
I thought I was dying. It felt like I was having an out-of-body experience.
I stood grabbing my face with both hands, trying to manipulate it back to how it looked before it slouched.
Literally pulling at my face, pinching it so hard I was making it red. “Go straight, go straight!” I screamed. Mam thought at first I was joking. She then realised I was not putting it on. And that’s when my parents took me to hospital. I’m so grateful the doctor was right that it would clear. Around three months later I was starting to look like the old Scarlett. I wasn’t completely the old me. The condition still affects me. I normally sleep with an eye mask as I can’t close my left eye properly and it’s also caused a droop with my left eyebrow. So in photos it constantly looks like I’m doing the Elvis Presley eyebrow. I do get trolls on social media commenting. But do you know what? I really don’t care.
Looks are only skin-deep. I’m here, I’m alive. The outcome could have been so much worse. Who gives a s*** if my face is a bit wonky and my teeth a bit goofy? ■
The thought of his little girl being ill would have just broken Dad’s heart SCARLETT MOFFATT ON HOSPITAL TESTS DRAMA