Pamela Anderson has revealed that she is free of Hepatitis C after completing a new course of anti-viral drugs.
The former Baywatch star announced the news on Instagram, accompanying it with a picture of her sitting topless on a boat.
She said: “I pray anyone living with Hep C can qualify or afford treatment. It will be more available soon. I know treatment is hard to get still…”
Anderson revealed in 2002 that she had contracted the disease from then husband Tommy Lee after sharing tattoo needles. She joked that she didn’t expect to live more than 10 or 15 years.
Anderson had previously been optimistic that a new FDA-approved drug would help cure her of the blood-borne illness, and had spoken at length about the impact that living with hepatitis had on her wellbeing.
“I’m very fortunate that I’ve had Hep C for about 16 years,” she told People.
“Sixteen years ago that was [considered] a death sentence. I think it really worked on my self esteem. Even though I may have looked confident on the outside, I think it really was a dark cloud that lingered over me.”
“I don’t have any liver damage and I don’t have any side effects. I’m living my life the way I want to but it could have eventually have caused me some problems and so it was a real blessing that I was able to get the medicine.”
