Ciara Kelly has admitted her “life was shrinking” before she underwent a double hip replacement last year.
The Newstalk presenter, 52, suffered from constant pain in both her hips due to an autoimmune disease, psoriatic arthritis.
The pain left her needing a mobility scooter to move around, and she was barely able to walk.
The doctor turned broadcaster said her life was getting “smaller and smaller” as moving even small distances became too painful.
Speaking to the Sunday Independent’s Life magazine, Ciara said: “I was saying no to things. If someone wanted to meet in a cafe, and there was nowhere to park near it, I couldn’t meet them. I couldn’t go into town because that would mean getting a Dart, and there would be too far of a walk at both ends of the journey.
“I realised I was sitting down on the toilet to brush my teeth. I couldn’t stand at the bathroom sink to put on my make-up, so I was sitting on the side of the bath.
“I used to do a bit of sea swimming, not a lot, but a bit and I’m in a WhatsApp group for it, but I couldn’t take part in it. Walking on the sand wasn’t possible and even getting on and off the sand to get dressed would be too difficult.”
Ciara continued: “I realised I was looking at life through a window. I was watching what other people were doing without being able to take part. It suddenly hit me that my life was shrinking and it wasn’t that I was just afraid of ageing. I was afraid I was going to end up disabled.”
The mother-of-four admitted she was terrified of having surgery, as being a doctor herself she knew too much about the procedure.
But after realising the pain wasn’t going to go away, she decided to book in for the two procedures and they were successfully completed last year.
At the time, she shared an update from the hospital on her Instagram, writing: “To lose one hip is unfortunate… to lose two seems like carelessness 🙂 I’m practically bionic at this stage please excuse woozy inappropriate posts for the next few days xx.”
Ciara is now recovered, with her mobility fully back.
She said of her recovery: “If you said to me we have to walk two hours now, I’d be fine. I don’t have any limp. I went from a limp in one leg to walking like Shrek, but I don’t have that any more. I had to relearn to walk, relearn a gait, and I sashay around now.”
Ciara added that her mental health has significantly improved, and said: “Then, as it became apparent to me that not just one but two hip replacements had been a success, I got this incredible euphoria. I was like a new lease of life, a second chance.
“Now I feel like I could embrace anything. The sky’s the limit.”
