‘If I’d waited 24 hours I would’ve died’: Andrea McLean reflects on the ‘lessons’ she’s learned after nearly passing away with a serious illness
The presenter had already overcome a number of hurdles, and then she nearly died
Former Loose Women presenter Andrea McClean has offered insight into a very challenging time in her life, that ended with her nearly dying while in hospital with a serious illness.
During an appearance on the Second Act podcast with host Ateh Jewel, the broadcaster also spoke about the financial difficulties she fell into after leaving Loose Women in 2020, after 13 years on the daytime show.
Andrea departed the series to focus on her wellness business, a life-coaching platform named This Girl is on Fire. However, the business collapsed during the pandemic, and she was forced to sell her home, and lost all her savings as a result.
Rebuilding after this difficult stage, Andrea felt she had finally turned a corner, but there was more to come and she became gravely unwell and nearly died.
Relaying to Ateh Jewel exactly what happened, the presenter shares that it was Christmas time, and she had what she thought was a case of the flu.
"I went to the doctors because my chest was hurting a bit, and she said, 'Oh, I think you've coughed and you've pulled a muscle'" Andrea explains, adding, "It turns out that it was actually the start of the pneumonia."
A short while later, she collapsed in her bathroom. "I'm laying on the floor and I couldn't figure out how to get up, and I couldn't figure out how to call my husband," she recalls.
When her husband Nick eventually came to her aid, Andrea was ready to wait and see if she got better on her own, and didn't want to make a fuss.
However, Nick called their GP who insisted an ambulance was called. "Nick was told once I was rushed into the emergency ward and fitted with every tube and all of that, that if I had waited another 24 hours, I would have died," she reveals.
As well as pneumonia, Andrea was also suffering kidney failure and sepsis. After such a life-altering event, the broadcaster was asked how it changed her, and she shares the lessons she learnt from the near death experience.
Andrea lost 85% of her right lung to the pneumonia, recalling, "It was full of infection and it took months before I was finally given the all clear."
"What does that do to you?" she ponders, before explaining, "In the first instance, you're too sick to really think about anything. I was writing a book then, and it actually gave me a real purpose to to get up every day."
She continues, "But what it did do, was it made me realise that in life, you try and grab moments, and you don't know how many moments you have left."
"So if there's something you really want to do, do it. I've always wanted to live in the sun, live by the sea, and actually have a much simpler life."
At this stage of her recovery, Andrea thought, "What are we waiting for?" and decided on a move to Spain in order to live the rest of her life how she wanted to live it.
"What have you got to lose when you've lost everything?" she says, adding, "We were selling things to pay for food."
"That was the stage we were in and we just thought we've got nothing to lose. So, we sold everything that was left. We left not even knowing if it would work," she shares.
Summing up her experience, Andrea shares, "So, I lost everything, literally everything in my 50s. Now, when you're when you're in your 20s and you're you're finding your way in the world, people are kind of a lot more accommodating."
"Losing everything in your 50s and starting again, that's when I realised my second act was beginning. I thought it had happened before, but actually it hadn't. It's now."
And the biggest lesson that I've learned is that you can get up and start again. You can literally lose everything. I lost my home. I lost my health. I lost my finances. I lost my identity."
