Welsh actress Nerys Hughes is no stranger to debilitating chronic pain, she explains to Iona Walton

A vivacious and bubbly presence on our TV screens thanks to her leading roles in The Liver Birds and The District Nurse, Nerys Hughes has had a wonderful career and family life. Happily married, mother of two and now enjoying her role as a grandmother, Nerys and her husband divide their time between their homes in London and France.Probe a little deeper, however, and it’s evident that the years of pain Nerys endured after an accident whilst filming have left her extremely appreciative of the good health she enjoys today.

“The camera was low down and I was asked to crouch,” she remembers. “It was very hot and the ground felt like an iron. When I fell, I felt my cruciate ligament in my knee snap but instead of getting it treated, I carried on filming the next day, which can only have made it worse.”

Great strides have been made in knee injury procedures since Nerys had her accident 13 years ago but she wishes that she had been offered a full knee replacement sooner.

“Back then I just didn’t get the right treatment,” she remembers. “I had so many injections in my knee, of cortisol and even gold, but they didn’t help. MRI scans showed that the injury was exacerbated by the fact that my cartilage was worn away as I had always gardened without a cushion, something I hugely regret.

“My other knee was put under intense pressure as a result and eventually I got arthritis in both knees, which then spread to my hands and my feet. I was in acute pain and was almost in a wheelchair. My sleep was affected as I just couldn’t get comfortable as night. And of course my work suffered too, although thankfully I could still record audiobooks and narrate documentaries.

“I was on a huge amount of painkillers and felt weakened in both body and spirit.

“Eventually I met a physiotherapist who explained that I simply needed full knee replacements and that’s when I came into contact with a wonderful surgeon, Adrian Fairbank.”

Nerys had two full knee replacements operations scheduled three months apart but soon realised that she needed to prepare for the procedures.

“Many people don’t seem to know how important it is to strengthen the thigh muscles beforehand,” she explains. “And exercises afterwards are vital too, even right at the beginning. I was awake (and talked) throughout the operation – I had an epidural-type of anaesthetic – and afterwards Adrian made me walk up and down stairs. It was terrifying but he reassured me that the stitches would be fine and that I needed to get moving to regain full function.”

Recovery was quick thanks to Nerys’s preparation and hard work and she felt as though she had been given a new lease of life.

“My pain was gone and the arthritis subsided other than occasional murmurs in my fingers and feet,” she enthuses. “I should have had the knee replacement operations much earlier on as I felt marvellous.”

The experience has made Nerys appreciate every moment of what life offers in terms of her career, family and opportunity to travel.

“I do have a form of diabetes but it’s controlled via tablets, so I’m lucky now in that my health is pretty good,” she says. “Eating well isn’t difficult as I adore fruit and vegetables such as avocados, broccoli, oranges and spinach.

“As for exercise, I’ve always loved walking and have run through life but am not a fan of the gym, ironic perhaps as my daughter and her husband are both personal trainers. Exercise for me is about strengthening my body, not overdoing it.”

Today Nerys is a patron of the National Osteoporosis Society.

“My Auntie Betty was very dear to me and she had osteoporosis,” she explains. “She was a slight, feisty and lovely lady with a wonderful sprit even whilst she was in intense pain. Somehow she found a way to live with it.

“I have met a lot more people with osteoporosis since working with The National Osteoporosis Society. It can be a lonely disease and the society offers tremendous comfort though a wider group of people facing similar issues and the wonderful events that it organises.”

For more on the National Osteoporosis Society visit www.nos.org.uk or tel 0845 450 0230.

First published March 2015.

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