Andy Lee describes his mother’s debilitating battle with a rare brain illness that landed her in hospital for a year and made her forget who he was
Andy Lee has given a rare interview about his mother Margaret’s battle with a rare brain illness.
Speaking to The Briefing podcast this week, the comedian described how his mother was given just two weeks to live after being diagnosed with cerebral vasculitis (inflammation of the blood vessel wall inside the brain) back in 1996.
Andy, who was just 15 when his mother received the grim diagnosis, explained: ‘It shut down parts of her brain. She she forgot how to walk, how to talk, who we all were.’
Health battle: Andy Lee has discussed his mother’s debilitating battle with cerebral vasculitis, a brain illness, back in 1996. Andy (right) is pictured with his father Michael (centre) and mother Margaret (left)
‘So things turned really quickly, and it happened over the space of three weeks. A bit of the shock to the system. She was given two weeks to live back then, because they didn’t really know what it was,’ he said.
Margaret, who was hospitalised for a year with the illness, miraculously survived.
‘I may be wrong in this, but I think she’s the first to survive [this condition] in Australia,’ Andy told the podcast.
Symptoms: Andy, who was just 15 when his mother received the grim diagnosis, explained: ‘It shut down parts of her brain. She she forgot how to walk, how to talk, who we all were’
The Cube maintained a sense of stoicism during the traumatic ordeal, and dutifully visited his mother in hospital every day.
As a result of her condition, Andy had to reintroduce himself to his mother every time he visited.
‘It felt a bit like groundhog day. ‘I’m Andy. I play the trumpet. I like hockey”, he recalled.
Disbelief: ‘I never really thought mum was going to die, even though they told us that. I just didn’t believe it,’ Andy told the podcast
‘It felt a bit like groundhog day’: As a result of her condition, Andy had to reintroduce himself to his mother every time he visited her in hospital
Andy also admitted that his relationship with his younger sister Alex initially became strained when his mother went to hospital, as he tried to take over control of the household.
However, through adversity his bond with Alex – and the rest of his family – eventually became much stronger.
‘I never really thought mum was going to die, even though they told us that. I just didn’t believe it. But one thing – and this might be a nice thing to hear – it absolutely brought [Alex and I] closer,’ he reflected.
‘Like, we were always a close-knit family but we, and I said to my mum, the silver lining is that we are now… we see each other three or four times a week, we talk to each other every single day, we love catching up,’ he added.
Survivor: Margaret, who was hospitalised for a year with the illness, miraculously survived. Margaret is pictured with Andy’s girlfriend Rebecca Harding
Connection: Through adversity, Any’s bond with his family became stronger. Andy is pictured with his parents in 2020