Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
Pamela Anderson was given “around 10 years to live” when she was diagnosed with hepatitis C.
The Baywatch actress thinks being told she had the viral infection in the late 1990s “corrupted” her decision-making skills because she was terrified for what the future held for herself and her and Tommy Lee’s sons, Brandon, now 30, and Dylan, now 28.
Speaking at the amfAR Gala in Venice on Sunday (06.09.26), Variety reports she said: “It was a death sentence. That’s what my doctor told me — that I probably had around 10 years to live.
“I’m sure that coloured and corrupted my decisions. It was not fear of death, but fear of what might happen to my young children. It turned my life inside out.”
A cure for the infection was discovered in 2011 and by 2015, Pamela was “hep C free”, though at a financial cost.
She admitted: “It took everything I had in my bank [to pay for treatment ].”
The 59-year-old star – who was honoured at the event with amfAR’s Award of Courage – is still “haunted” by the “shame and guilt” she felt over contracting hepatitis C.
She continued: “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 that I endured as a child, it felt like it was carved into my forehead: Damaged goods. And I presented myself as such.”
Pamela still hasn’t “fully recovered” from the news of her diagnosis but has “finally come to terms” with it and used it to fuel her career resurgence.
The Last Showgirl star said: “My truth has come through my work, finding ways to express myself through the arts. It gave me the ammunition I needed, a fertile life to use and play in.
“I’m not a victim, I’m a victor. I am strong and capable, more now than I could ever dream of … I’m not the damsel in distress, no matter how easy that role is to play.”
The gala was hosted by Taika Waititi and also honoured performance artist Marina Abramović with the Award of Inspiration, which she was presented with by Orlando Bloom. Mimi Webb and Bebe Rexha sang for attendees and there was an auction which featured prizes including an Andy Warhol Flowers painting, a visit to the New Zealand set of Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum including a meet-and-greet with Andy Serkis, Anya Taylor-Joy and Kate Winslet, and a digital art piece titled Slow Walking by Marina, which also included lunch cooked by her at her Manhattan apartment and a tutorial in her Abramović Method. The latter lot went to an unnamed male attendee for €500,000.
