Jade Goody, the "Big Brother" star has cervical cancer which has been diagnosed as the terminal stage of cancer. She is 27. Her boyfriend, Jack Tweed, 21, has proposed to her on the eve of Valentine's Day at her hospital bedside. Her marriage will be telecast live, and in all probability, she will die live in our living halls.
Remember her?
Jade Goody, the reality TV star, hit the headlines for the wrong reasons in 2007 after she was accused of racism and bullying towards Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty when the pair appeared on Celebrity Big Brother.
The Situation:
Goody, 27, rose to fame through Channel 4 reality show, "Big Brother". She was first diagnosed with cervical cancer in August and had a golfball-sized tumour removed during a lengthy procedure this Friday. But unfortunately the cancer has spread to her bowel, liver and groin. Her condition is now diagnosed as Terminal Cancer: she has only months to live- "It's a question now of when and not if"
She will be survived by her two children, Bobby. 5 and Freddie, 4.
What Goody felt:
"I couldn't breathe when they told me. I just screamed and cried and said, 'Can't anyone do anything to help me?'" She was absolutely devastated.
Her legacy:
The children. She plans to make as much money as possible for her children. So she has opted to go for the live telecast of her marriage, and is sure to die on camera.
Are people ready for this?
One industry insider told the Daily Star: "Jade's wedding is going to be a real tear-jerker. Every magazine editor will want to buy the rights. The fact that she is doing it to raise money for her children makes it even more heartbreaking."
What is the justification for the live telecast?
She is doing this for three reasons:
- One: She wants to make as much money as possible for her children.
- Two: She says it will keep her busy, it gives her something to think about other than her cancer, and what's going to happen to her.
- Three: Since last August when she announced she had cancer, the amount of women having cervical smears has gone up over 20% right across Britain and that's something she's very happy about. She wants to raise awareness
"She said to her manager, 'Look Max, I'm hoping what happened to me won't happen to them. They didn't spot the cancer that was growing in me, these women will have the proper tests and it won't happen to them.'
Quotes:
"You're a fucking loser and a liar. Go back to the slums."
To Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty, on Celebrity Big Brother January 2007.
"Who is Heinzstein [Einstein]?"
"They were trying to use me as an escape goat."
"Sherlock Holmes invented toilets."
"Do they speak Portuganese in Portugal? I thought Portugal was in Spain."
"Rio de Janeiro, ain't that a person?"
Now that she has been sentenced to death, it is difficult not to feel compassion for her- some of us might even make fond memories of her...
Symptoms of Cervical Cancer:-
- Abnormal vaginal bleeding
- Unusually heavy discharge, whatever the texture or odour, you should consult a doctor if it gets heavy
- Pelvic pain that is not related to the normal menstrual symptom
- Pain in bladder or during urination- advanced stage when it has spread to the bladder
- Bleeding between regular periods, after intercourse or pelvic exams.
Mortality:
Cervical cancer contributes over 2.7 million years of life lost among women between the ages of 25 and 64 worldwide, some 2.4 million of which occur in developing areas and only 0.3 million in developed countries- Cancer Research UK.
Here is a blogger on living with cervical cancer.
What she said to Ms. Shetty, is it an example of racism?
ReplyDeleteMany world-citizens say worse things about cultures and people at home and with friends.
And this show was meant to bring about, as the ad-world parlance goes, 'the real you'.
I had never bothered to read about the racism row till now.
No doubt this is a hapless condition of hers.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering how this compares to an African child made of stick-like bones wrapped in skin, driven from home/ raped, pointed a loaded gun, orphaned, dehydrated, in extreme malnutrition, and barely living!
Can't compare them, can we? Both are uniquely different, inciting sympathy. But somehow the African child steals my sleep every time I watch her on the tele.
As far as I know, every Indian is a racist at heart. There might some mature people here, but I am yet to know them.
ReplyDeleteThe wife has to be fair, the child has to be white. You should see how heads turn when a fair complexioned girl walks past you...
It is just that Racism in this issue, gave us an advantage...
Even Shetty, if her skin was darker than this, wouldn't have gotten to be a heroine in the movies. And she knew it, and we knew it.
It feels great to be honest :)
Karma, celebrities steal not only our time and money, but also our compassion, yes!
ReplyDeleteThat African child is not glamorous. Poverty is never.
This young woman has led a difficult life. She was not equiped to deal with the 'celebs' in BB with Sherpa Shetty. Ch4 manipulated her and they threw her to the wolves. To my knowledge, only her mum was white so she was mixed race and I do not believe she was or is racist.
ReplyDeleteshe is now facing a tragic end to a tragic life and while I dont agree with what she is doing because as a nurse, I have seen too many times the terminal phases of what cancer does to a person, I can not help but admire her determination to put herself in a positon to be slated again in order to ensure her sons have a better life than she did. Surely she deserves credit and maybe respect for that.
At the end of the day, she is a human being who has a terrible illness from which she will not recover. In my world, that deserves compassion and understanding and for the world to respect her decisions even if they do not agree with them.
How about not cutting her a bit of slack and at least in the final weeks/months of her life, let her know that she has been accepted back after the racism stuff and give her some peace at the end of her life
people cant live without any divisions. when nothing exist they will create one.
ReplyDelete