TV presenter tells how daughter was left in a wheelchair by an autoimmune disease

Television presenter Lucy Alexander said the most defining moment of her life was when her daughter, Kitty, became paralysed with an autoimmune disease.

She reveals this in conversation with Kate Thornton, as part of the podcast ‘White Wine Question Time’, produced by Kate Thornton in association with Yahoo.

Lucy, 47, best known as the presenter of BBC One’s ‘Homes Under the Hammer’ between 2003 and 2018, stars on episode seven.

“Nine years ago, my daughter, at the age of seven, become paralysed in the space of an hour,” she tells Kate on the podcast.

She continues: “An autoimmune illness attacked her spinal cord instantly and she’s now in a wheelchair.”

Listen to the full episode below, or subscribe on Apple or Spotify to get first access to all the celebrity confessions.

Reflecting on the traumatic incident that affected her daughter Kitty, who is now 16, Alexander said it has been the “making” of her family.

“It’s been the making of us as a family and of her. It’s really phenomenal how I’ve watched a kid – she’s a young woman now – change her life and turn it around.

“Still every day it takes my breath away to see her in a wheelchair wheeling up to me. It’s tough, it’s bloody tough.”

She added: “It makes you so much more selfless, it gives you strength, things that couldn’t bother me before I couldn’t give a flying f*** about. I can connect with people who are sad or grieving like I couldn’t before. I have deeper connections with people.”

She spoke about her daughter’s illness as part of the BBC’s ‘Matron, Medicine and Me: 70 Years of the NHS’ documentary in 2016.

Pineapple Studios’ Louie Spence, and ‘Eastenders’ actress Tamzin Outhwaite also feature in the episode.

The trio discuss anxiety with Kate – sharing that they had all experienced panic attacks at one time or another.

—Watch the latest videos from Yahoo—

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for non-stop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyleUK.

Carol McGiffin describes saying final goodbye to Lynda Bellingham – while hiding own cancer battle

Jenny Powell reveals how she learnt modern romance rules through dating after her divorce

All Saints singer warns against all-consuming relationships: ‘I was living a lie’