‘At 25 I didn’t know if I’d walk again’: Ioan Gruffudd’s girlfriend Bianca Wallace reveals she has ‘aggressive’ multiple sclerosis which has left her with a tremor and partial blindness
- The actress, 29, took to Instagram on Friday night to share a nine-minute long video captioned ‘I think it’s time’ where she shared the news
- She revealed that she first went to doctors after being unable to pick up a pen to write, and that after that ‘everything changed’
- Bianca detailed how she now suffers with occasionally going blind in her left eye, has a tremor and that the whole right side of her body has nerve damage
- The beauty went on to say that the diagnosis has actually been her ‘lucky charm’ and pushed her to get into acting and ‘appreciate life for what it is’
- Bianca has recently hit headlines for her new relationship with Ioan, 48, with the pair both frequently coming under fire from Ioan’s estrange ex Alice Evans
Ioan Gruffudd’s new girlfriend Bianca Wallace has revealed she was diagnosed with ‘aggressive’ multiple sclerosis three years ago.
The actress, 29, took to Instagram on Friday night to share a nine-minute long video captioned ‘I think it’s time’ where she explained how she didn’t know if she would ever walk again after being told she had the condition at the age of 25.
She revealed that she first went to doctors after being unable to pick up a pen to write, and that after that ‘everything changed’.
Difficult: Ioan Gruffudd’s new girlfriend Bianca Wallace has revealed she was diagnosed with ‘aggressive’ multiple sclerosis three years ago
Bianca detailed how she now suffers with occasionally going blind in her left eye, has a tremor and that the whole right side of her body has nerve damage.
The beauty went on to say that the diagnosis has actually been her ‘lucky charm’ and pushed her to get into acting and ‘appreciate life for what it is’.
Bianca has recently hit headlines for her new relationship with Ioan, 48, with the pair both frequently coming under fire from Ioan’s estrange ex Alice Evans.
Multiple sclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system that attacks the myelin sheaths protecting neurons in the brain and spinal cord.
Tough: The actress, 29, took to Instagram on Friday night to share a nine-minute long video captioned ‘I think it’s time’ where she explained how she didn’t know if she would ever walk again after being told she had the condition at the age of 25
Common symptoms include tiredness, vision problems and problems with walking or balance. Multiple sclerosis cannot be cured, but medicines and other treatments can help ease some of the symptoms
Bianca said in the video: ‘I haven’t always had the same outlook on life. I haven’t always been about following your heart and living your life to the best of your ability. That’s actually come with a diagnosis of aggressive multiple sclerosis.
‘In October 2018 I was diagnosed with MS, I was diagnosed with an aggressive from, it was very aggressive in nature, it came on hard and fast. I was at work in accounting and I tried to pick up a pen and I couldn’t.
‘There was an initial shock, I can’t really describe how I felt, I’ve never been able to put it into words, this is why I haven’t spoken about it in the last three years as I don’t quite know what to say.’
New couple: Bianca has recently hit headlines for her new relationship with Ioan, 48, with the pair both frequently coming under fire from Ioan’s estrange ex Alice Evans (Bianca and Ioan are pictured going Instagram official in October)
She continued: ‘It has been the most confronting this to be dealt in life. It’s not something a 25 year old would have ever expected. I then put the pen in my other hand to try to write and I just couldn’t.
‘I was sent to the emergency room and from there everything changed. Within the next few weeks I couldn’t walk anymore, the entire right side of my body was completed whacked out. I had to start a journey I wasn’t ready for. You’re never ready for a diagnosis like this.
‘I’ve always been a bubbly positive person but when you are faced with aggressive MS something changes. It put a question mark over my head but now I think it’s the luckiest thing that could have happened to me as I was able to ask the hard, heavy questions in life.
Diagnosis: She revealed that she first went to doctors after being unable to pick up a pen to write, and that after that ‘everything changed’
‘Will I ever walk again? I had my new. The neurologist answered that with ‘I don’t know’. At 25 I didn’t know if I was going to walk again. I realised I had to make some changes in my life. I realised that starts with me. I was miserable, unhappy, I didn’t know if I would walk again.’
Bianca went on to explain: ‘I was living with regret. I didn’t know what was going to happen to me. I still don’t. It was hardship that has made me who I am. That’s why I always tell people to just follow their heart as I know how how debilitating regret can be.
‘I deal with a lot of drama because of the diagnosis. I go blind in my left eye, I have botox to lift it up. My entire right side has nerve damage, this is my tremor look. When I’m stressed I lose my walk. So I had to learn how to control my emotions.
Positive: The beauty went on to say that the diagnosis has actually been her ‘lucky charm’ and pushed her to get into acting and ‘appreciate life for what it is’
‘I know how it feels to lie in bed and regret everything and I don’t want to do that again ever. Without MS I would never have become an actress, it’s the big question mark that did that. I don’t know how it will progress I don’t know what’s going to happen.’
She signed off by saying: ‘That knocked all the fear off me. It taught me to appreciate life for what it is. I hope this has cleared up some questions you may have of me. So now you know!’
The heartfelt clip comes a week after Ioan’s ex Alice dramatically quit Twitter after slamming the actor’s new girlfriend Bianca over a perceived ‘lack of empathy’.
102 Dalmations star Alice, 53, announced her split from the Welsh actor in a series of angry tweets last January, with Ioan subsequently confirming a new romance with Bianca in October.
Bold move: The heartfelt clip comes a week after Ioan’s ex Alice dramatically quit Twitter after slamming the actor’s new girlfriend Bianca over a perceived ‘lack of empathy’
But while her Instagram page is still open, Alice set her Twitter page to private before deleting it over the weekend after users of the social media platform expressed their opinions on her situation.
One user wrote: ‘She left. She had to close her account. She went too far,’ while another person claimed it was her followers who forced her off Twitter.
Earlier in the week, Alice responded to a slew of photos posted by Bianca, which included one of Bianca holding hands with Ioan while on holiday in Nice.
Infuriated, Alice branded the snaps ‘sick’ and ‘evil’, adding that it was a ‘stake in the heart’ to see the images.
Moving on: While her Instagram page is still open, Alice set her Twitter page to private before deleting it this weekend
Alice has previously accused Ioan and Bianca of conducting a three-year affair – there is no evidence to suggest Ioan has been unfaithful.
Taking to Twitter on Wednesday, Alice reposted the photo Bianca had shared, writing: ‘YEAH. This has been causing me quite a big amount of stress. I’m so happy for them. It’s like one long holiday. It’s not that they don’t deserve it- I hear B only is on vacay so why should she change.
‘It’s the hurt – the real pain that this photo causes me.’
Responding to another fan, Alice further lashed out at Bianca, writing: ‘Thank you and the recent “shadow picture” in Nice. She wants to put a stake in my heart. I’ve never seen such a lack of empathy.
Couple: Bianca posted a montage of photos of her year on Tuesday – including a snap of her and Ioan holding hands in Nice – which Alice branded ‘sick’ and ‘evil’ and claimed seeing the image was like a ‘stake in the heart’
‘Pity, because we could have all been friends if they’d played this right. I have no problems with forgiveness. But this is evil.’
The 102 Dalmatians actress then revealed Ioan had come to the pair’s former marital home in LA to collect his belongings – claiming he told her he had been accompanied by a police officer, but that she suspects Bianca was with him.
She wrote: ‘Just got back and Ioan came and took all his stuff. He told me he came with a police officer but several witnesses said he came with a short dark haired woman! Yuk!
‘I’ll be so upset if she did. Guess I’ll never know so I have to just forget it. He definitely said the ‘off duty cop’ (?) was male.’
Alice then referenced her housekeeper’s belief that Ioan was accompanied by Bianca when he visited the marital home, adding: ‘Gloria thinks so. He came to her house to get the key, even though I had hired to friends of mine to be there to let him in.
‘She thinks there was a woman in the car who didn’t get out.’
Mailonline contacted representatives for Ioan and Bianca for comment at the time.
WHAT IS MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS?
Multiple sclerosis (known as MS) is a condition in which the immune system attacks the body and causes nerve damage to the brain and spinal cord.
It is an incurable, lifelong condition. Symptoms can be mild in some, and in others more extreme causing severe disability.
MS affects 2.3 million people worldwide – including around 400,000 in the US, and 100,000 in the UK.
It is more than twice as common in women as it is in men. A person is usually diagnosed in their 20s and 30s.
The condition is more commonly diagnosed in people of European ancestry.
The cause isn’t clear. There may be genes associated with it, but it is not directly hereditary. Smoking and low vitamin D levels are also linked to MS.
Symptoms include fatigue, difficulty walking, vision problems, bladder problems, numbness or tingling, muscle stiffness and spasms, problems with balance and co-ordination, and problems with thinking, learning and planning.
The majority of sufferers will have episodes of symptoms which go away and come back, while some have ones which get gradually worse over time.
Symptoms can be managed with medication and therapy.
The condition shortens the average life expectancy by around five to 10 years.
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