Actress Alea O’Shea is ‘riding the wave’ as she goes through treatment for brain cancer at 25.
The former Home and Away star, who played Darcy Callahan between 2011–2014 and returned to screens between 2016–2017, has been sharing her journey online.
Alea shared her diagnosis with her 160k followers in November, revealing that she underwent a biopsy on her birthday.
She said on Instagram: ‘This is a video I obviously thought I’d never have to make, but I’ve recently been diagnosed with brain cancer,’ she began. Saying that like, a hook, is insane. It’s been a crazy few weeks.’
Alea first thought something might be wrong when she was having migraines, although they were ‘nothing scary’, and she also thought her smile was a ‘little uneven’ and she felt it was ‘harder to talk.’
She wasn’t too worried about this, but then during a trip to Los Angeles, she lost feeling in two fingers, then her wrist, and a toe.
Alea thought she had a pinched nerve and went to see her physio, who she says she ‘could not be more grateful for’ as he ‘immediately realised it was beyond his scope.’
The physio sent Alea for a brain scan, and she then received her diagnosis.
‘The good news is where it is on my brain isn’t going to affect my personality,’ Alea added in her video, before adding that she’ll need to have surgery and could have ‘left side paralysis.’
Since then, Alea’s started having radiation and shared her hair loss on socials, with many people praising her positive mindset during an extremely tough time.
Alea has also spoken with Australia’s The Daily Telegraph and told how she’s dealing with everything, saying: ‘I’m really just riding the waves, which is all you can do.
One thing I’ve become deeply aware of through this diagnosis is how lucky I am to have control over my own work and schedule.
‘It’s allowed me to work to my energy levels, listen to my body, and still maintain a strong sense of purpose.
