Pamela Anderson recalls the time she was given ‘ten years to live’ when she was diagnosed with hepatitis C.
The Baywatch actress, 59, contracted the blood-borne disease around 1999 after sharing a tattoo needle with her ex-husband, Tommy Lee.
Pamela said it felt like ‘a death sentence’ after doctors told her it was a terminal diagnosis and that she would not live longer than ten years.
However, she announced in 2015 that she was completely cured of hepatitis C after living with the virus for 16 years.
Speaking at the amfAR Gala in Venice last weekend, Pamela admitted that she is “still haunted by shame and guilt.”
Pamela, who shares sons Brandon, 30, and Dylan, 28, with Tommy, said: ‘It was a death sentence. That’s what my doctor told me: that I probably had about ten years to live.’
‘I am sure this has colored and corrupted my decisions. It wasn’t fear of death, but fear of what might happen to my young children. It has turned my life inside out’ Variety reported.
Pamela Anderson, 59, Recalls the Time She Was Given ‘Ten Years to Live’ When She Was Diagnosed with Hepatitis C
The Baywatch actress contracted the blood-borne disease around 1999 after sharing a tattoo needle with her ex-husband, Tommy Lee (pictured in 1999)
She continues: ‘But my experience of shame and guilt was also an unconscious journey. It stays with me; it haunts me.
“And just like the sexual abuse I experienced as a child, it felt like it was carved into my forehead: damaged goods. And I presented myself as such.”
In 2011, a cure for the infection was discovered and by 2015 Pamela was ‘hep C-free’, albeit at a financial cost.
She admitted: ‘It took everything I had in my bank [to pay for treatment].’
Pamela still hasn’t “fully recovered” from the news of her diagnosis, but has “finally come to terms with it” and used it to kickstart her career.
The Last Showgirl star said: “My truth has come through my work, finding ways to express myself through art. It gave me the ammunition I needed, a fruitful life to use and play in.
‘I am not a victim, I am a victor. I am strong and capable, more than I ever imagined. I’m not the damsel in distress, no matter how easy that role is to play.”
Pamela is at the Film Festival to promote her new film, Place To Be, and to accept a prestigious award at the amfAR Gala.
The actress rose to fame in the 1990s as lifeguard CJ Parker on Baywatch.
Pamela, who shares sons Brandon, 30, and Dylan, 28, (seen) with Tommy, said: ‘It was a death sentence. That’s what my doctor told me: that I probably had about ten years to live.”
She appeared in 77 episodes, in series three to seven, and later reprized her role in the 2003 reunion film, Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding.
Reflecting on her time on Baywatch during a conversation with Term Earlier this summer the movie star said: ‘It was a great job and I enjoyed working on the beach every day.
“I would have been there anyway,” she added, laughing. ‘I learned a lot from it at the time and gained worldwide fame.
“Everything I’ve done has brought me here, and that’s a blessing. But I have no plans to return to Baywatch.”
When asked if she wanted to know where her character ended up after Baywatch was rebooted, she candidly replied, “If my kids were involved, I probably would have listened to them.”
