She’s legally blind and raising a child with cystic fibrosis and now Big Brother winner Reggie Bird has revealed she recently suffered a stroke.
Amid an ‘incredibly stressful’ court battle with a former boyfriend, the 43-year-old detailed to Woman’s Day the harrowing ordeal.
‘I was a work and all of a sudden my eye was droopy and my face went numb and I couldn’t speak properly,’ Reggie told the publication.
Tough times: Big Brother star Reggie Bird, 43, has revealed she recently suffered a stroke
‘I was taken by ambulance to the emergency department for scans and blood tests, and doctors suspected I had Bell’s palsy,’ the single mother added.
A week later the mum-of-two found out that she had actually suffered a minor stroke with the neurologist ordering more tests and putting her on medication to prevent another.
The resilient mother to Mia, 10 and Lucas, 7, who suffers with Cystic Fibrosis remained upbeat about the diagnosis and joked, ‘I need a new body.’
Struggle:The resilient mother to Mia, 10 and Lucas, 7, who suffers with Cystic Fibrosis remained upbeat about the diagnosis and joked, ‘I need a new body.’
The news comes after Reggie had just started to feel her life was beginning to improve with a new home and relationship on the horizon.
In June, Reggie told Woman’s day that she was facing eviction from her Gold Coast home.
‘I’m so scared’ she told the publication. ‘ One day your kids are cuddled up and warm and safe and just like that, it could all be gone. I owe my kids a warm bed and a safe house, that’s not too much to ask, is it?’
Reggie, who took home $250,000 as the winner of Big Brother, revealed that she received an eviction notice after an ongoing dispute with the owner of the property that she had rented for five years.
‘It’s hard to believe I became known as the girl who survived multiple evictions in the Big Brother house, to 14 years later be faced with the real thing,’ she said.
The reality star also revealed to the publication that her Big Brother winnings rapidly depleted after spending $100,000 paying off a house, which she lost in a divorce settlement and losing $20,000 on a bad property investment in Sydney.
Reggie, who currently works part-time in a charity call centre, added that she had done her best to provide a happy home for her children despite having fallen on hard times.
Terrified: ‘I’ve been having nightmares ever since, wondering where we’re going to go,’ she added. Reggie is pictured with son Lucas who suffers from Cystic Fibrosis
Crisis: Reggie added that she had considered applying for public housing but did not want to take a property from a family who were in a ‘tougher’ situation than her
Speaking to nine.com.au in May, Reggie revealed the daily struggle she faces dealing with her son’s debilitating condition.
‘I dread this time of the year. Lucas has already had about two months off school this year,’ she said.
‘He recently had a Nasal Gastric Tube in and was hooked up to a machine to be drip fed though the night. So he was in my bed because the alarm would go off on the machine if he got tangled up in it.’
Debilitating: Reggie was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa when she was 29 and was subsequently told she would eventually lose her vision entirely
Reggie was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa when she was 29 and was subsequently told she would eventually lose her vision entirely.
The condition is a genetic eye condition that causes cells in the light-sensitive retina, located at the back of the eye, to degenerate slowly and progressively.
She recently revealed, on The Morning Show, that her biggest fear was not being able to see her children grow up.
‘I would love to go back to Europe. I would also like to see Mia get married and Lucas grow up and achieve great things in life,’ she admitted when asked what she would like to do before her sight completely goes.’
Heartbreaking: She recently revealed, on The Morning Show, that her biggest fear was not being able to see her children grow up