Davina McCall shares brain tumour surgery recovery update as she admits to private healthcare privilege

Evening Standard

Davina McCall has given an update on her recovery following surgery to remove a brain tumour and praised her partner, Michael Douglas.The 57-year-old TV presenter shared her journey in an Instagram video, describing how a routine health check ultimately saved her life.McCall revealed that the tumour, a rare benign growth affecting only three in a million people, was discovered during a private health check offered to her after she delivered a talk on menopause.Reflecting on her recovery, she said: “I really feel a lot more myself now. I feel way better. My sense of gratitude is growing by the day. I’m crying a bit less, which is good. I’m really looking forward to Christmas.”She acknowledged the cost of the private health check, stating: “It’s expensive — BUT it did save my life. It’s prohibitively expensive for most, but the NHS offers loads of checks too. Preventative medicine is better than reactive medicine.”While the presenter acknowledged her privilege in accessing private healthcare, she urged followers to take advantage of free NHS health checks: “There were many health checks that I skilfully ignored when I got letters from the NHS offering them… so what I’m saying is, DO THE NHS HEALTH CHECKS… they are free!”

Transcript

00:00Well, firstly, I feel way better and my gratitude, my sense of gratitude seems to be growing

00:09by the day. I'm crying a bit less, which is good. And I'm really looking forward to Christmas

00:20with our kids and families, so it'll be great. But firstly, I want to talk about two things,

00:32Rupal, who is the girl that got me to do the menopause talk in the first place,

00:38and the place where I did my health check, which is one Wellbeck. This health check,

00:46it costs more than most people could afford. It's expensive. But I do feel like I need

00:54to say something about it because it quite possibly saved my life. So it's like I'm in

01:00this weird kind of place where I want to thank them because I feel like they saved my life,

01:07but I know that it's prohibitively expensive for most people. The NHS also offers lots

01:14of health checks to people. I mean, not loads, but they do things like smears or a health check

01:24at 40 or is it 45? But these are things that get sent to you and you think, yeah, yeah,

01:31I'll do it later. I'll do it later. Mammograms, colonoscopies. But can I just say, do the health

01:38check. I have realised that preventative medicine is way better than reactive medicine.

01:47Well, for me, it has been. And I just feel, I mean, I know I keep banging on about it,

01:54but I just feel so grateful. And it's Christmas. It's the best present I could have ever received.

Category

Transcript

Comments

Recommended