Eternal’s Kelle Bryan reveals she has to wear a surgical mask and gloves to avoid picking up an infection as she battles Lupus
The singer suffers from the chronic autoimmune disease
ETERNAL'S Kelle Bryan has revealed she has to wear a surgical mask and gloves to avoid picking up infections.
The singer is battling the chronic autoimmune disease Lupus, which means a simple hug from one of her two children could kill her.
She told : "I normally wear a surgical mask and gloves because I’m highly susceptible to infection.
"My lupus means if I pick up an infection I could die because there is nothing to fight it.
"People know me for being glamorous and going to red carpet events but this isn’t anything like that. It’s real pain."
Kelle, 41, went on: "I’ve got two kids who have had to watch their mum go through this.
"I can’t touch my own children because it could actually kill me.
"So it doesn’t just affect me, but those around me too."
And the star's worst fears were almost realised three months ago when her daughter contracted a meningococcal infection at school.
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Within 48 hours Kelle, close to death, was rushed into intensive care.
"I was kept in while they stabilised me," she explained.
"I came very close to not being here because my kidneys and organs had shut down.
"They had to give me adrenaline to kick-start my body and then they filled me with fluid so they could treat me. I looked like a balloon.
"The lupus went to my brain and it caused me to have a seizure, so I lost three days of my life."
Kelle, who now works as a showbiz agent and represents former Celebrity Big Brother contestant Ricky Norwood, was rendered unable to walk or talk by the ordeal.
She also underwent chemotherapy which made her lose her hair.
She added: "My brain isn’t recovering in the way we hoped it would. I’ve got severe memory loss – I’ve got a stack of parking tickets because I often forget where I’ve parked my car."
Diagnosed with Lupus in 2000, Kelle is a patron of the St Thomas' Lupus Trust.
Explaining how her battle with the disease is ongoing, Kelle posted a picture of herself in hospital last week and said: "This was me on Friday I had a #brain #scan still having some symptoms that my consultant is concerned about including short term #memory loss.
"Thought long and hard about posting but decided if I'm gonna be real this is as real and it gets"
Other celebrities to suffer from the disease include Selena Gomez, Toni Braxton, Seal and Nick Cannon.
What is Lupus?
An incurable immune system illness, it can affect any part of the body.
Lupus is an autoimmune disease which attacks a person's healthy cells and tissues.
It mainly affects women.
The disease can manifest itself through facial rashes, hair loss, pain or swelling in joints, mouth ulcers, tiredness and sensitivity to the sun.
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