Hollyoaks actress Kelle Bryan has opened up about a terrifying moment where she was almost suffocated by a pillow due to lupus.
The 44-year-old spoke to Loose Women about the illness, admitting she turned to God during a moment of desperation back in 2000. She spoke about it at length during a discussion about a new Church of England app that helps people pray.
‘When I was first diagnosed with lupus, I got into an uncomfortable position as I couldn't move my own body.
'I rolled over in the night and my face was into the pillow and couldn't physically move myself and thinking I was gonna suffocate', she said.
Lupus is an autoimmune condition that can cause sufferers to be suddenly paralysed, and can result in loss of muscle control too. Most sufferers are female, and the disease can affect any part of the body. There is currently no known cure.
Kelle explained that she couldn’t even reach the alarm, or alert her mum who was asleep on a camp bed beside her.
‘I was thinking “I’m going to die”, and I just thought “Father if you’re real, I need your help.”
'Then the nurse came in, the door opened, mum woke up.’ Kelle concluded.
Kelle has appeared on Loose Women before to speak about the condition, and we’re so pleased to see she’s still going strong.
Loose Women panellist Jane Moore asked if she ‘went into religion’ in that moment, to which Kelle agreed by saying: ‘At that point there was an absolute moment of change in an instant situation.’
Despite this, Kelle admitted that although she was raised Christian and went to church, she rebelled against religion during her teen years. Until the lupus diagnosis, she said that ‘God wasn’t a big part of my life’.
She now goes to church regularly and thinks the app is a ‘good introduction’, but she would still go ‘straight to God’ when she prays.
The Church of England’s new Daily Prayer app features morning, evening and night prayers and also includes Bible readings, psalms and seasonal variations.
