Strictly Come Dancing’s Amy Dowden has revealed she almost died due to the side effects of chemotherapy during her battle with breast cancer.
The professional dancer from Wales, 33, recalled her terrifying near-death experience in a new interview in which she told how she was rushed to hospital after her first and second rounds of chemotherapy with sepsis and then blood clots.
Diagnosed with the disease in May, Amy underwent treatment last summer and recently suffered a muscle injury when she shaved off her hair.
She said The mirror of her hospital admissions: ‘After both of my first cycles I started experiencing the life-threatening side effects that chemotherapy can bring, so I had it all in the first month.
‘I had a fever and didn’t realize how serious the fever was. I got up, collapsed, mom called 911 and they said, ‘Call an ambulance immediately.’ From that moment on everything became very serious.
Scary: Strictly Come Dancing’s Amy Dowden has revealed she almost died due to the side effects of chemotherapy during her battle with breast cancer
Health: The professional dancer from Wales, 33, recalled her terrifying near-death experience in a new interview in which she told how she was rushed to hospital with sepsis and then blood clots after her first and second rounds of chemotherapy
‘I remember going to the hospital and they told me I had an infection, but the next day it got really bad. I didn’t respond to antibiotics for hours.’
‘We met the paramedics a week later and they said if I had gone to bed that night I might not have woken up the next morning.’
She added that her last memories were of being surrounded by doctors, after which a nurse explained that she had gone into septic shock.
Her blood pressure was so low that her vital organs were about to fail.
Amy doesn’t remember much about her time in intensive care, but told how her infection markers were at ‘dangerous levels’ until antibiotics cleared things up.
The sepsis was caused by an infection she had contracted shortly before her treatment.
Amy then had another run of bad luck during her second round as she suffered from blood clots in her left arm due to complications caused by her port delivering the chemo drugs.
She has now been taking blood thinners for six months after the ‘frightening’ experience.
Amy also told how she initially wanted to refuse chemo because it was ‘strict, her hair and her life gone’, but was eventually persuaded to do it anyway.
Tough: She told The Mirror about her hospital dramas: ‘After both my first cycles I got the life-threatening side effects that can come with chemo, so I had it all in the first month’
Shock: She said: ‘We met the paramedics a week later and they said if I had gone to bed that night I might not have woken up the next morning’
Treatment: Amy underwent IVF to create and freeze embryos before beginning her treatment, in hopes of having children with her husband Ben Jones in the future
Amy underwent IVF to create and freeze embryos before starting her treatment, in the hope of having children with her husband Ben Jones in the future.
A friend told her there was no point in freezing her embryos, as if if she hadn’t had the chemo, “she wouldn’t be here to have these babies anyway.”
It comes after Amy returned to Strictly for one night on Sunday amid her battle with breast cancer.
The star took to Instagram on Sunday to share a carousel of images from her comeback, showing her getting cozy with co-stars after finishing pre-filming the opening number of the results show ‘a few weeks ago’ had attended.
In the sweet photos, Amy, who bravely shaved her head after her hair started falling out due to chemotherapy last month, beamed alongside friends Dianne Buswell, Nikita Kuzmin, Katya Jones, Carlos Gu and Nancy Xu.
In a caption, the star praised the ‘Strictly Family’, writing: ‘It’s moments like these that I need right now, to break me out of my now-at-the-moment reality and I’m all @bbcstrictly for this grateful… I ‘I’m so lucky to be surrounded by so much support’.
In addition to her sweet message to her co-stars, Amy admitted that she “dreams of dancing again every night” and said that watching the show is “escapism.”
Amy looked radiant in the series of images of her return, which came from the pre-recorded dance segment of the weekly results show.
In her caption she wrote: ‘Come along tonight for the first results show of the series! The standard this year is insane. What a great two live shows so far…
‘I was lucky enough to be there a few weeks ago for tonight’s opening number and all I can say is WOW!…
‘What another incredible song made by @jasongilkison. It’s moments like these that I need right now, to help me escape my now-at-the-moment reality and I’m so grateful to all of @bbcstrictly for this. I hope I get back to the gang soon…
‘There is no textbook or right/wrong way to deal with your cancer journey. Everyone deals with it in their own way. I’m so lucky to be surrounded by so much support that I don’t take for granted, and days like this are what keeps me going.
“Every night I dream of dancing on that floor again, but right now I am my fellow professional’s proudest and biggest cheerleader. Who is your favorite so far?! #strictlycomedancing #forevergrateful #strictlyfamily #support’.
Amy was diagnosed with the disease in May and is undergoing chemotherapy treatment. She said watching the show has been a real “escape” from her reality and that she is counting down the days until she can return.
Amy recently broke down in tears as she shaved off her hair after chemo caused her locks to fall out in clumps. She took the brave step of cutting off the rest of it herself because it’s the only thing she has control over.
In a video on her Instagram page, her loved ones can be seen taking turns cutting off a few strands of her hair before shaving off the rest. She explained: ‘Taking control – the hardest step yet. I did my best to save it…
“I know it’s just her, but so much has been taken from me in the past few months that I don’t feel like I’m Amy anymore…”
‘I miss every possible aspect of dancing. I just wanted to maintain my identity with my hair and I tried to tell myself that it wouldn’t work. But I would be afraid of the pain of waking up to the shredding every day.”
She continued, “I have not been able to take control of this journey so far, but as you can see from some of my loved ones, I have taken courage and CONTROL…
‘It will take some time to get used to it and learn to love and embrace it, but I am focusing now – not on the hair I am losing, but on the hair I am going to get back and the happy dancing, tea lover who talking way too fast while rolling every rrrrr that’s still in there, with or without her!’
Amy – who is now half way through her chemotherapy treatment – added: ‘Since taking control I feel like I can now see the finish line…
Illness: The Strictly Favorite was diagnosed with breast cancer in May and started chemotherapy after doctors discovered she was also battling another type of cancer
Looking ahead: The dancer, who was forced to sit out the 2023 series of Strictly, said she wanted to reclaim her identity after missing much of her life as a dancer (pictured in January 2023 during the Strictly live tour)
Emotional: Last month, Amy called cutting her hair “the hardest step yet” when she posted a heartbreaking video of herself surrounded by loved ones as she got her hair cut
‘For me this was an obstacle that I couldn’t even think or talk about. I did it and I’m also over half of the chemotherapy!
I feel powerful and positive! To everyone on their own journey, whatever that may be, I send love, strength, power and courage…
‘I found the courage to take this step and I’m proud of it… (There are some fun before and after videos/reels coming up, but I wanted to share the truth and hopefully help others, and bring normalcy to a beautiful barren head) .’
It came after Amy admitted she was having a ‘meltdown’ over her hair loss.