Rylan's mum's health battles as she's rushed to hospital for surgery after fall
Rylan Clark has asked his fans to pray for his mum, Linda Clark, after she has been rushed to hospital for surgery following a horrific holiday fall.
The 34-year-old took to Instagram to inform his fans his 71-year-old Gogglebox co-starring mum has been taken for an emergency procedure following a fall while the two were away together. Taking to his official social media channels, Rylan wrote: "So unfortunately I took my mum away on her first holiday in a good few years and sadly she's had quite a bad fall, resulting in her having to have surgery out there. She's not in the best health with her other conditions and this has made it more complicated. My priority at the moment is my mum.
"Cheers to scott for covering me at radio 2 and Thanks to the people out there that have sent their well wishes. Praying for a successful surgery and a quick recovery. Will update you on mummy Linda as and when I can x." [sic]
However, Linda's operation does not mark the first health battle that the celebrity star has had to overcome. Here, The Mirror looks at Linda's previous health battles – from a cancer diagnosis to a long-term battle against Crohn's disease.
Crohn's disease and near death experiences
Rylan has previously explained his mother's case of Crohn's is quite 'severe', citing how she was initially diagnosed with the condition which causes inflammation of the digestive system around age 30 in 1984. The NHS explains Crohn's as "one type of a condition called inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)", detailing how it is life-long with no cure at present.
Gogglebox star shows off three stone weight loss in impressive year apart snapsHowever, treatments can help contain and reduce symptoms and come in the form of medicines and surgery to remove a small part of the digestive system. Speaking to Crohn's and Colitis UK, Rylan said: "My mum has lived with severe Crohn's Disease since 1984, four years before I was born, and the condition really shaped my childhood.
"She has had to undergo multiple operations to remove damaged parts of her bowel and she takes medication every day. When I was growing up, I thought my mum was the only person with the condition. I support Crohn's & Colitis UK to help other families know that they are not alone. My mum often felt embarrassed about her diagnosis, but nobody with Crohn's or Colitis should feel like this."
Linda was spotted by eagle-eyed viewers of Channel 4's Celebrity Gogglebox wearing a drip back in 2019. As fans flocked to social media to query about her health, Ryan responded: "Had a lot of people ask, mum is fine, she has a TPN line (total parenteral nutrition) for a feed...To do with her Crohn’s. V normal. Thanks for asking xx." A TPN line is an "an alternative way of providing" nutrition to the body "when the gut does not work", the NHS states.
Speaking on Fearne Cotton's Happy Place podcast afterwards, Rylan also detailed how his mum is "on a drip feed now like pretty much 24/7". He said: "I mean she has gone through quite a lot with her health, she has got Crohn's disease. She is on a drip feed now like pretty much 24/7 whenever she can get on it."
Due to Crohn's, Linda had nearly lost her life on three occasions. During his X Factor stint where he found fame back in 2012, Rylan's mother could only attend one of his live shows due to a near-death experience. He said in 2019, according to the Daily Star: "I don’t think Crohn's gets spoken about enough. I nearly lost my mum last year, again, for the third time."
He added: "With all due respect, the hospital just said to her, 'If you didn’t come in one more week, that would have been it'. My mum has been ill my entire life. When I was on X Factor, she only managed to get to one live show. That was actually quite upsetting for her to see that, who wants to see me singing?"
Linda's Crohn's has also led her to having three major bowel operations, now living with a stoma bag. Speaking to OK! magazine, Linda detailed how she now only has around "70cm" of bowel left in total.
She said: "So if I have a drink of water I’ve got to empty the stoma straight away. My life is in the bathroom. I’ve got a line in me now – I don’t know how long it will be until the doctors can’t do any more.
"There’s too much going on in there. I feel alright, but I get down because I can’t go out and I can’t do what I want to do."
Cancer diagnosis
In October 2021, Rylan told listeners on his popular BBC Radio 2 show his mother had been unfortunately diagnosed with skin cancer – going on to cite how the condition is thankfully "not life-threatening".
Gogglebox star teases return as Channel 4 prepares to mark 10 years of hit showSpeaking on the show at the time, he detailed: "I should probably tell people what we're talking about. So mummy, and it's all fine, she's got skin cancer on her face, but she's absolutely fine.
"It's not life-threatening and it's just spread a little bit, so we're getting it all cut away."
Linda would have the cancer removed, leaving her with three stitches under her eye. She would also go on to have several biopsies later to ensure that the cancer had not returned after removal.