Home and Away star Georgie Parker has opened up on major surgery she underwent in her early 50s – and how she was supported by one of the show’s iconic stars.
The 59-year-old actress joined the Australian soap in 2010 as Ruth “Roo” Stewart – the daughter of Alf Stewart (Ray Meagher) and Martha (Belinda Gibson). The character was originally played by Justine Clark, but Georgie took on the role upon the character’s Summer Bay return after she departed in 1989.
Away from the Channel 5 programme, Georgie has faced a number of health struggles and a battle with scoliosis, which cut her previous dreams of becoming a professional dancer short. The actress, who is married to famous scriptwriter and author Steve Worland, was diagnosed with scoliosis when she was 13 years old.
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Discuss the condition – which curves and twists the spine, she told Body+Soul in 2020 she had “lost about three inches in height” because of it.
And in 2017, she revealed in Now To Love: “It impacts me on a daily basis and I just have to stay fit to keep my back as functional as possible. I’ve never resented [having scoliosis] and it’s made me realise how lucky I am that, while I have this significant challenge, I can still live my life pretty much how I want to.”
A year later, meanwhile, Georgie admitted she’d already had to undergo a hip replacement due to osteoarthritis. Opening up on The Morning Show in Australia, she explained at the time: “You have to think about how you sit, stand, how you get up. And when you are an actor, your body is your tool, so it was very debilitating really.”
(Image: georgieparker/Instagram)
Georgie went on to add that she tried to hide the condition as it progressed, and caused her issues with her mobility. “I hid it as well as I could. I have Scoliosis as well, so I’m working with that as well as the hip,” she continued.
“Unfortunately, when the hip loses that movement, everything is compromised.” Georgie was supported by her on-screen dad Ray throughout her ordeal. The 79-year-old is the longest-serving star of the show, having been ever-present in the Bay since 1988.
(Image: Channel 5)
“I had Ray visiting me, sending me flowers and chocolates,” she gushed. “Everybody was messaging me a lot, so it was a real sense of family. I felt very loved and getting messages saying that they love me and miss me. It was really sweet.”
She added in New Idea: “Physical obstacles really don’t have to define you. There is pain and there is discomfort and there will be medical intervention. ‘But there is always a way of finding a challenge and making that challenge make you a better person. That’s what I think.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
