Dawn French shares health update from hospital bed after having major surgery
Dawn French has shared a snap of herself in hospital as she updated fans on her health after damaging her knee 14 years ago.
The much-loved actress, 66, suffered an agonising ordeal when she attempted to jump off a 10ft ledge on The Paul O'Grady Show in 2009 in homage to the classic scene where vicar Geraldine Granger ends up chest-deep in mud after jumping into a puddle in the Vicar of Dibley. Sadly, the copycat stunt, which was supposed to be a tribute to the classic BBC show, was "catastrophically misguided" according to Dawn, who was left 'reliant on steroids' for the pain.
Updating her Instagram followers on Wednesday, the comedian revealed she's had a knee replacement after years of discomfort as she posted a photo of her bandaged leg. Captioning the shot, she said: "It's done. New knee is in. Now we start the healing..." Fans flocked to wish her well with many telling the mum-of-one she should take as long as she needs, particularly after Dawn was forced to cancel her latest gigs due to arthritis.
Dawn French has suffered with her injury for 14 years (Dave Benett/Getty Images)
Dawn French has shared an update from her hospital bed (Instagram)The comic's knee saga started when the French and Saunders star tried to recreate one of the most memorable moments of sitcom slapstick when the beloved Geraldine jumped feet-first into a seemingly endless puddle. However, when Dawn tried to relive the scene as part of a skit on her pal Paul's show, she opened herself up to a decade's worth of 'crippling pain' and an operation.
Recalling the experience at her one woman show in October, Dawn said: ''They constructed a 10ft-high hill out of scaffolding covered in AstroTurf. The idea was that there was a long enough drop for me to disappear into. But what was I falling onto? The answer is absolutely nothing. Except for 10ft below there were two very thin crash mats in a film studio with a flat concrete floor. Any fool would know this was a disaster in the making. Any fool but me."
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Dawn showed the audience a photo of herself beginning to jump, admitting: "This is actually quite an emotional picture. This is the last time that my body is actually intact. This is the last time I had two functioning legs. I went 10ft down and plump on to the two crash mats. One leg twisted very awkwardly underneath me and I landed very heavily. I heard the worst twanging noise you could ever imagine."
Dawn French injured herself on the set of the Vicar of Dibley (ITV)Earlier this month, Dawn revealed she'd been forced to cancel her remaining tour dates, following a setback with her arthritis. She began on Instagram: "Hello folks. It's with a massively heavy heart and furious [expletive] that I have to admit defeat and postpone all of my remaining tour dates from tonight onwards."
Dawn continued: "My stupid selfish ol' arthritic knee has totally given up & won't let me walk. I am swearing a lot. I am bereft to let you down. Sorry. On the upside, I can have the op I so desperately need, earlier than planned. Ouch. And sorry again. We are working hard to reschedule all the dates. Bear with…"
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